Lost and Broken
by Aura Mackenzie
Summary: Andros of KO-35 always kept people at a distance. His team of Earthlings-turned-Space Rangers didn't know why. But what had the mysterious Red Ranger kept from them? What was he dealing with now that the team had been disbanded for years?
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

 **Author's Note: This story takes place before and after Power Rangers in Space.**

 **Twenty Four Years Ago:**

Andros, Zhane, and Vanya were called to the high elder's office. None of them liked it, but Andros was afraid he already knew why they were there. He hadn't heard from his parents in a while. They were on a mission for the colony.

"Andros, Zhane, Vanya… I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but we received word that all of your parents had been killed in the attempt to leave KO-35 to find a safe place for all of us to retreat to. There is not much that we can do to stand up to Dark Specter and his attacks on the colony. I'm so sorry," the elder said. "Now, Andros, Zhane, you are both nearly 17 years of age. I trust you to make a decision as to what you would like to do for yourselves. Zhane, if you would like assistance figuring out what to do with Vanya, let me know."

"Actually, Sir," Andros started, too shocked to show any emotion, "Zhane and I were already making plans to join the military."

"Is this true Zhane?" the elder asked.

"Yeah," Zhane started, rubbing the back of his neck so he didn't show emotion in front of his sister, "but I need to make sure my sister is taken care of first, Andros"

"I'll go into the military," Vanya said, speaking up, wiping the tears from her eyes, causing both Andros and Zhane to look at her in shock. "If both of you are planning on going into the military to fight for KO-35, I want to help. I just lost everything, too. You two are all I have left."

"Are you sure, V?" Zhane asked his sister.

"Yes," she replied to Zhane before looking to the elder and addressing him for the first time. "I guess you have three new recruits for KO-35's military, Sir."

 **A Week Later:**

The funerals had been hard for Andros, Zhane, and Vanya. Andros had already lost his sister, Karone, when she had been kidnapped ten years ago. Now his parents were gone, too. Zhane and Vanya still had each other, but it didn't take away from the pain they were both feeling over losing their parents. Still, they said their goodbyes and left for their military training.

 **A Year Later:**

Andros, Zhane, Vanya, and three other soldiers that Andros recognized as Stone, Luna, and Pluto were given orders to go to Eltar to see the great sage, Zordon. They had no idea why, but they were transported in one of their ships with their basic equipment, in case of an attack on Eltar while they were there. When they reached the village they were supposed to go to, they were taken to Zordon.

"Andros, Zhane, Vanya, Stone, Luna, and Pluto, do you know why I have called you here?" Zordon asked them.

"No, Sir. We don't know why you've given us this honor," Andros, as the ranking soldier on the team replied.

"I want the six of you to become my new Power Rangers, my first Space Rangers," he replied.

"Zordon, Sir, we're honored, but why us?" Vanya asked.

"All six of you are children of KO-35 who have suffered greatly because of Dark Specter. Yet, instead of letting vengeance and anger consume you, you have all followed a path to protect others, even if protecting others means your destruction. You are all pure of heart and I believe it is your destiny to help not only KO-35, but the galaxy in these dark times."

"I'm in, Zordon, Sir," Andros said, stepping forward and saluting the sage.

"If Andros is in, so am I," Zhane said stepping up.

"Definitely," Vanya replied, following her brother and Andros.

"I'm in," Luna said.

"So am I," Stone said.

"If you think we're really the ones meant to do this, then I'm in," Pluto said after a hesitation.

"Then step forward to receive your Morphers," Zordon said. One by one the six soldiers stepped forward and Zordon handed them a Morpher. When they all had morphers, he explained. "These are your Astro Morphers. They will be invisible on your wrists. To activate them, say 'Let's rocket,' which will make them visible on your wrist and then punch in code 335. Zhane, you'll notice you're Morpher is different. You will punch in the code 1580#.

"Andros, I have made you the Red Ranger, the team leader. I am also giving you this Battlizer. You are a natural leader and a fierce warrior. Zhane, you are Andros' best friend and his balance, you are the Silver Ranger, his second in command. You are impulsive, strong, and have great instincts. Vanya, you are as tough as you are caring. You will be the Pink Ranger. Luna, you are wise beyond your years, cunning, and strong, you will be the Blue Ranger. Stone, you are strong and cool under pressure. You are the Black Ranger. Finally, Pluto, you are swift and fierce, you will be the Yellow Ranger.

"This," Zordon said, leading the new rangers to a ship, "is how you will travel. This is the Astro Megaship. It is the fastest space ship in the galaxy at the moment. The A.I. on the ship, D.E.C.A. will be able to help you learn the functions of the ship, including the weapons systems. There are communicators on board the ship for all of you. This ship will be your home away from KO-35. It has sleeping quarters and everything else you will need. Now go, Rangers, and protect the galaxy. May the power protect you."

"Where do you want us to go first, Zordon?" Luna asked.

"Board your ship and D.E.C.A. will tell you where you are most needed if you ask," he said.

"Yes, Sir, Zordon. We won't let you down," Andros said before turning to his new team. "Let's go!"

They all ran to their new ship, eager to start their new adventures. The first planet they were led to was Triforia, were Dark Specter had sent his forces to try to destroy the Gold Zeo Ranger, Trey. After a hard fought victory, the Space Rangers were given supplies from Trey as gratitude for their help and they started on their next mission.

 **Three Months Later:**

The Astro Megaship took a while to get used to, but it felt like home. Zhane and Vanya had been his family for years, but Luna, Stone, and Pluto were feeling like family too. Andros was finally showing them small signs of the side of him Zhane and Vanya had known for years, the side that wasn't always serious.

He was lying on his bed, thinking about everything in his life that had led him to where he was. He remembered that he and Karone had wanted to become Power Rangers together when they were kids, before she disappeared. His heart ached… he blamed himself for Karone's kidnapping because he left her alone for a minute. His heart also ached for his parents. While they were trying to find a way to save the colony he lost them. They would never see what he'd become, would never meet his family if he ever let anyone get that close to him. A knock on the door to his quarters brought him out of his thoughts. He sat up and pulled on his uniform jacket.

"Come in," Andros said, looking like the team leader and not a mopey teenager.

The door opened and in came Vanya. Even in her Astro Megaship uniform she looked amazing to Andros. He didn't say anything to her, she was Zhane's little sister, a member of his team, and he didn't want to risk messing anything up.

"Are you okay, V?" he asked as he walked to her.

"Andros…" she started, "I…"

"Ecliptor is attacking Mirinoi," D.E.C.A. announced before Vanya could finish her thought.

"Raincheck on the chat, V? We have to get to the bridge," Andros said to her, giving her a hug.

Vanya nodded and they both ran to the bridge where the others were waiting. Only Zhane seemed to give Andros a curious glance that he was coming onto the bridge with his sister. Everyone manned their stations, and as D.E.C.A. prepared their course to Mirinoi, the Rangers prepared their ship for battle, checking all systems, preparing the weapons. When they reached their destination, all of the Rangers departed the Astro Megaship to go to the planet's surface.

They had fought Ecliptor before. He was one of Dark Spector's lieutenants. He was a tough adversary. Andros told Luna and Pluto to start evacuating the battle zone. Zhane, Vanya, and Stone followed him into the fight with the Quantrons and Ecliptor. The four Rangers made it through the Quantrons with relative ease, but when they came up against Ecliptor himself, it wasn't as easy. As they battled back and forth, the Rangers fighting to gain the upper hand, someone new appeared on the battle field and everything changed for the Space Rangers.

She looked like she was possibly Vanya's age or a little younger. Unlike most of Dark Specter's forces, she was human… powerful, but human. She wore battle armor and carried a staff with her. Evil and cruelty radiated off of her.

"Ecliptor! Retreat! I will show these Power Rangers not to mess with Dark Specter or Astronema, Princess of Evil!" the new opponent declared.

"As you wish, my Princess," Ecliptor said, bowing to her before disappearing.

Astronema started attacking Andros and his team, proving she was as tough an adversary if not tougher than Ecliptor himself. All six Rangers were taking substantial damage. They had fought her for maybe twenty minutes. All of them were exhausted, and that was when she made the strike that would change the team forever in a split second.

The Rangers were on the ground, struggling to get back to their feet. Suddenly, Astronema lifted her staff and aimed it at Pluto, the youngest Ranger on the team, sixteen like Vanya, but still younger. With the way she had split the team up as she beat them down, Pluto was too far away for anyone to reach. All they could do was lay on the ground as she pointed at the ground under his head and watch as an explosion as strong as the strongest explosives could make went off right underneath their Yellow Ranger's body.

Andros ran to Pluto, mustering up the strength to get to him from his grief and anger. The other Rangers got back to their feet and went after Astronema. As Luna and Stone distracted her, Zhane and Vanya snuck up on her and hit her with their strongest hits, which made Astronema retreat… After warning the Rangers she would be back to finish Dark Specter's orders of destroying them all.

The Rangers had just suffered their first major loss as a team… the loss of one of their own. They gathered around what was left of Pluto's body, and Andros could hear Luna and Vanya crying in their helmets. When the people of Mirinoi came out to thank them, they saw the scene in front of them and gave their condolences on their fallen warrior. The Rangers called their Galaxy Gliders, and after Zhane helped Andros place Pluto on his Glider with him, they returned to the Astro Megaship, still in shock over the loss of one of their own.

"D.E.C.A. open communications with the elders of KO-35."

After a moment, one of the elders appeared.

"Sir," Andros said, saluting him, no longer in his Ranger uniform but his Megaship uniform, "my team has suffered a loss today. I have not contacted Zordon of Eltar as yet, but I wish to know if there is protocol in place…" Andros froze in his words.

"Protocol for what, Lieutenant?" the elder asked.

"In case of the death of one of the Space Rangers, Sir," Andros finally got out. "Our Yellow Ranger, Pluto, was killed by one of Dark Specter's, a human named Astronema. She is powerful, Sir, and clearly outranks Ecliptor."

"Notify Zordon of Eltar. He will tell you what to do as far as replacing the Ranger or not. As for Pluto, if you have his remains, bring him home to KO-35 and we will bury him. Your team can say goodbye before you leave on your next mission."

"Yes, Sir," Andros replied, saluting the elder, before communications were cut off.

After talking to Zordon, who decided for the time being they would not replace Pluto, Andros finally returned to his quarters. Zhane was waiting for him.

"Are you okay, Andros?"

"I'm fine, Zhane."

"No, you're not. I know you better than anyone on this ship. I know you're not okay."

"Our orders are to return to KO-35 so Pluto can be buried. We'll say our goodbyes and return to our mission."

"Andros, its okay not to be in control of everything, including your emotions sometimes."

"I'm team leader, Zhane. Astronema just showed up and nearly took us _all_ out and then singled Pluto out for destruction. I failed him. I need to make sure she doesn't take any more of us down."

"I know she did, Andros. And Zordon made me your second in command. If _you_ failed Pluto, _we_ failed him. I know how hard you are about being responsible and I know I'm more relaxed about it, but if you need to talk, I'm here for you. Just remember that, okay?"

Andros looked up at his best friend and nodded. Zhane walked away, leaving him in his quarters alone for the first time since they left for Mirinoi… when Vanya had been in his quarters trying to talk to him. Being alone with his thoughts was driving him nuts, so he went to the simudeck to train. After downloading the data from the team's fight with Astronema, he Morphed and entered a simulation fight with Astronema, trying to learn how she fought to try to protect himself and the other Rangers.

Andros wasn't sure how long he had been in the simulation. He had been trying every counterattack and offensive move he knew trying to best Astronema and it was still barely enough to keep him standing. Suddenly, the simulation ended and Andros fell to his knees… and Vanya ran to his side.

"Andros, are you okay?" she asked, fear in her voice that made Andros' heart tighten.

"V? What are you doing in here?" he asked her in return.

"I was looking for you, but you weren't on the bridge or in your quarters. D.E.C.A. told me you were here. You looked like you were exhausting yourself in there so I cut the simulation. Are you alright?"

Andros tried to get up to put Vanya's mind at ease... but he couldn't. Vanya took his Morpher off his arm, causing him to de-morph.

"Vanya! Give me my Morpher back!" Andros exclaimed.

"No! You may be team leader, but you're no good to us if you work yourself to the point of extreme exhaustion," Vanya replied, helping Andros to his feet, steadying him against her. "I'm bringing you to your quarters so you can rest. I'll leave your Morpher on your desk so when you've rested, it's there for you. I'm not going to disrespect you or the chain of command so badly that anyone needs to know about this, Andros. We've been too close for too long. This can stay between us. Just don't fight me and make me need to call Zhane to help me get you to your quarters."

Andros wasn't happy, but he gave in. He did know Vanya well enough that if she felt he needed this, she wouldn't let this go… and if he fought, she'd call in Zhane who would tell anyone who listened. He let her help him to his quarters, out of his uniform jacket and boots, and into his bed. Andros watched as Vanya put his Morpher on his desk by his pictures of himself and Karone from when they were kids, before she had been kidnapped. Then Vanya turned to leave.

"V, wait," Andros called to her.

Vanya turned back to him.

"What?" she asked.

"Before all of the craziness of today, you came to me to talk. What did you want to talk about?"

Vanya looked at the floor hesitating. It bothered Andros that she was having issues talking to him. It had never been a problem before. For as long as he and Zhane had been friends, if Vanya had an issue she didn't want to talk to Zhane about, she had gone to Andros.

"Vanya, what is it? You've never hesitated to talk to me before," Andros said to her, gently.

Vanya looked at Andros, partially in shock that he had used her full first name and not in anger for her insubordination. She thought about it for a minute, knowing he was right. Finally, she took off her uniform jacket, placing it on top of Andros' on his desk chair, and her boots, leaving them next to his. She crawled over him on his bed so she was closer to the wall, like she used to before everything went to hell for all of them.

"Are you sure you're up to talking, Andros?" she asked.

"Apparently, it's about as much as I can handle right now," he replied, smiling at her, his tired, sad hazel eyes shining in a way they didn't usually.

"When I came to you earlier, I wanted to talk about all of our parents. I still miss Mom and Dad, Andros. And I can't talk to Zhane about it because he changes the subject or brushes it off if I try. Do you miss your parents, Andros?"

He hugged Vanya to him tightly, afraid he might actually let his emotions slip.

"Yeah, V. I miss my parents and Karone all the time."

"How do you handle the pain?"

"I focus on what we're doing. The people who took our parents, we're fighting to stop them. I feel like, by protecting others from what we went through, stopping Dark Specter and his armies, we can make our parents proud and give them peace in their afterlives. It's the only thing we _can_ do. If we let ourselves get overwhelmed by our anger, we can turn as bad as any of Dark Specter's men, just like that human, Astronema."

"The one who killed Pluto," V said crying, making Andros pull her close again. "How could any human, someone who was _born_ like we were, choose to join Dark Specter and become _that_ , Andros?"

"I don't know, V. But I'm gonna do everything in my power to protect the rest of the team. I promise."

Vanya looked up into Andros' eyes. She could see the grief and determination in them. Still when he looked at her, she saw a glimmer of something else in his eyes. Before either Vanya or Andros knew what they were doing, their faces were extremely close… and Andros kissed Vanya on her lips.

The kiss was gentle, nothing wild or crazy. Neither one of them knew that the other had never kissed anyone else. They were each other's first kiss, a tender, sweet moment, in a time of chaos and uncertainty. When they pulled away from each other, Andros turned as red as his Power Suit, which Vanya found a bit amusing, but he held her until she fell asleep. Once Andros was sure Vanya was sleeping, he slipped out of his bottom bunk and climbed into the top bunk in his quarters. He may have felt something for her and crossed the line and kissed her, but he wasn't going to become inappropriate and sleep in the same bed as his best friend's sister.

It was the middle of the night and Zhane was on the bridge, watching the computers. He hadn't been able to sleep after talking to Andros. So, he went and did his best to clean up Pluto's body, knowing Andros would want to do it himself before they returned to KO-35. He dressed him in his KO-35 military uniform as best as he could, given the shape of his body, and left him in the healing room, where the cryotube was kept in case of emergency, so the room was kept at low temperatures at all times, to prevent his body decaying on the trip back to their home world. After a while, he decided he should check on his sister.

"D.E.C.A., is V asleep in her quarters?" he asked the computer.

"No, she is not, Zhane. Vanya is not in her quarters."

"Where is my sister, D.E.C.A.?"

After a few seconds, the computer responded.

"Vanya is in Andros' quarters."

Zhane took off towards his best friend's quarters. He had always trusted Andros with his sister, but he _had_ seen them come to the bridge together before the mission to Mirinoi. Now, he knew neither Andros nor Vanya were thinking straight after what happened with Pluto. He didn't want to think Andros would take advantage of his sister, but she was the only family he had left. He would hate himself if Andros, crumbling under the pressure, took advantage of his little sister.

He reached Andros' quarters and D.E.C.A. opened the door for him without either of them knowing… And Zhane felt like an ass. Vanya and Andros were both sleeping, but not in the same bed. Andros had given V his bed and climbed to the top bunk to crash. Zhane backed out of the room, not wanting to wake them and returned to the bridge.

 **Two Weeks Later:**

The Power Rangers had returned to KO-35 and buried the Yellow Ranger. Almost as soon as the boy was in the ground, they were back in their ship on some mission. Dark Specter sent some of his most loyal minions to retrieve the boy's body, without anyone knowing. His body was brought to the planet Onyx and resurrected… completely evil, under the influence of the United Alliance of Evil, and under the impression his team had abandoned him to die.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

 **Two Months After Pluto's Death:**

Luna and Stone had been a couple since before Pluto had died, but they had been closer since his death. They trained together, and when she worked on projects for weapons or other tools that might help the team, Stone tried to help her in any way he could. Luna and Stone were both worried that any battle they entered could be their last. They had seen battles in the time since they had buried Pluto, but Andros was pushing himself to take the worst of the blows, trying to keep everyone else safe.

"Everyone report to the bridge. This is an emergency," D.E.C.A. announced as Luna was putting the final touches on a new weapon for Andros.

"Come on," Stone said, reaching for her hand. "Duty calls."

Luna took Stone's hand and they ran for the bridge. When they got there, the rest of the team was there.

"We're on our way to Tarmac-3, which had gained their freedom from Rita Repulsa a few years ago. They're under attack again," Andros explained.

Everyone took their posts and started working on their duties. As they neared Tarmac-3, Luna called Stone over to her. She looked worried.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"There's a massive explosive on that planet," Luna replied, pulling up a map that scanned the area of the attack. "It is focused here, in the center of where their government buildings are. The charge is big enough to blow a hole that could swallow the Astro Megaship."

"What do we do about it?" Stone asked his girlfriend.

" _We_ do nothing. _I_ go in and try to diffuse the detonator. The rest of you hold off the invaders while I do so I don't have to worry about being attacked while diffusing a bomb that large," Luna said to him with a weak smile.

"We have to tell Andros, Zhane, and Vanya. _Before_ we hit the planet's surface," Stone replied as he squeezed Luna's hand, trying not to show just how much he didn't want her to diffuse the bomb, but tell the others Tarmac-3 was a lost cause.

Luna got up, squeezing Stone's hand, and he got up with her. They walked over to Andros' station. He looked up at the two of them and she knew he could tell she had bad news.

"Zhane, V, come here. I think whatever Luna is about to tell me, we should all hear," Andros said before even asking her what she had to say. The brother and sister came and stood on either side of Andros. Finally, he asked Luna, "how bad is whatever you found on your scans?"

"There is definitely an invasion on Tarmac-3, and our best course of action is for the four of you to deal with that while I deal with the other, more urgent, issue, Andros."

"What's that?" Zhane asked before Andros could.

"There is a bomb, possibly surrounding at least one of the government buildings in the center of that area…" Luna replied.

"So diffuse the bomb, we'll handle the invaders," Andros said simply.

"There's a catch about that bomb," Stone said to Andros, looking at Luna.

"What's going on? What aren't you telling us, Luna?" Andros asked with worry in his voice.

"Andros… you and the rest of the Rangers… you need to evacuate the area of civilians and move the fight at least a kilometer from the government center before I try to diffuse this bomb... For safety reasons," Luna replied.

"Why do we need to give you so much distance Luna? We won't even be able to keep an eye on you to make sure nobody attacks you," Zhane pushed.

"Because…" Luna started, looking from her hands to Stone, who nodded at her to tell everyone, "because the charge on the bomb is enough to blow a hole in the planet deep enough to swallow the Astro Megaship."

"Wait, you want us to leave you alone to diffuse a bomb that can blow a hole in the surface of the planet so big it could swallow this ship?" Vanya asked Luna, to which she nodded.

"No, absolutely not. I'll figure out how to diffuse the bomb," Andros said.

"Andros! You can't!" Zhane and Vanya yelled at him once.

"I don't like the idea of Luna doing this, but I agree with Zhane and V on this, Andros. Luna is the one who has the most tech experience. Out of all of us, she has the best chance of diffusing that bomb with a minimal chance of discharge. If she can't do it, the next best tech on the team is V. None of us are going to let her go," Stone said sadly, looking at Luna.

"I won't risk her life. We can't lose another Ranger," Andros said, determined in his decision.

"Andros," Luna said, reaching out to him with the hand Stone wasn't holding, "you are this team's leader. We have followed you into many battles in the time we've been Rangers. Your strength lies in strategy and combat. I can fight but I'm also the tech expert here. _This_ , diffusing this bomb, _this_ is one of my strongest contributions to this team."

Zhane looked from Luna to Stone to Andros. He knew Andros would never okay this plan and that Stone probably hated the idea of Luna being in danger. He also knew she was their best chance of diffusing the bomb.

"Luna, diffuse the bomb. The rest of us will handle evacuation and enemy invaders. We're trusting in your skills," Zhane said at last.

"Zhane!" Andros exclaimed.

"She's right, Andros. This is our best bet. You won't make the call. As your second in command, I'm going to. Everyone, get ready, we'll leave for the planet's surface in thirty minutes," Zhane said, dismissing Luna, Stone, and Vanya.

"What if something happens to Luna, Zhane? It's not just her who will be affected. We all will, especially Stone," Andros said. "I can't let anything happen to her."

"Andros, you're my best friend. You're like a brother to me. But you need to stop trying to blame yourself for what happens to all of us. We all have military training. We all have different skills. And we all chose to become Power Rangers knowing there were certain risks. As much as I'd like to protect Luna for the sake of everyone here, she knows the risks of what she's doing and she's still choosing to do it. Don't try to take that from her. Don't make everyone else on this ship feel useless because you can't stop blaming yourself for what happened to Pluto," Zhane said before walking over and putting his hand on Andros' shoulder. "Come on, we need to go get ready. We've got a party to crash in less than half an hour and we need to get ready."

Luna and Stone got ready to go to Tarmac-3 and went to the Simudeck. She had asked Andros to meet her there when he was mission ready, but in the time until then, Luna and Stone just stayed in silence. Stone was holding Luna, knowing she was taking on the most deadly part of the mission because it was what was best for the team. Ten minutes before the team was supposed to leave for Tarmac-3, Andros finally joined them.

"You wanted to see me, Luna?" he asked.

"Yeah, Andros, I did," she said, reluctantly pulling herself out of Stone's arms and walking over to a table by the wall, opening a case. "This is your new weapon, the Spiral Saber. It can be combined with your Astro Blaster to make an even more powerful weapon and it's also programmed to make your make your Galaxy Glider hit hyperspeed. I want you to test it out before we go to Tarmac-3."

"Can't this wait until we return?" Andros asked Luna.

Luna didn't answer him. She sadly looked at Stone.

"Luna wants you to test the weapon now in case she _doesn't come back_ , Andros. She wants to know that you have the basics of your new weapon in case something goes wrong down there, so she can make any last minute adjustments now," Stone answered him.

"Luna, you can't think like that," Andros said. "We'll find a way to do this and come back as a team."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Andros. Really, I do. However, all of us knew going into the military that any mission could be our last. Being a Ranger is the same thing. I'm grateful that I've had the team, but if I die saving others, I can accept that."

"Luna…" Stone started to interrupt his girlfriend.

"No, Stone. I'm not giving up on living, but _all_ of us knew the dangers that we would be in, that we would be walking into when we became first soldiers, then Rangers. I vowed to protect the universe from evil. We _all_ did. All I'm saying is that I will keep that vow with my last breath. I'm sure the rest of you feel the same. I don't want to leave you, Stone, but we are a source of hope and good fighting in the war against Dark Specter and his force of evil minions. We never know when any of us will die. Just…" Luna started but froze.

"Just what?" Andros asked.

"If I do die, there's a map in my quarters. It's to part of a lesser inhabited part of Triforia… where I buried my parents. Don't give my body to the military. Please, bury me with my parents. Ask Trey to help you find the location, since you probably shouldn't just show up on his planet like that."

"Why on Triforia?" Stone asked.

"Because I'm not completely human. My father was related to Trey. It's why Trey was so happy to host us. He's my cousin," Luna said.

"Wait, your cousin is the Lord of Triforia?" Andros asked, to which Luna just nodded. "Why didn't you tell us on Triforia?"

"Trey and I have decided that since I'm only half Triforian that we would live our separate lives, instead of him asking me to join him on Triforia permanently after the loss of my parents. However, we both always knew if the other was in need, we'd always be there for each other. It is, however, why I snuck off with Trey for a while," Luna explained. "Now, Andros, we only have a few minutes. It's time to test the Spiral Saber."

Andros got into the sim and Luna started it. As Luna watched the stats on the Spiral Saber, how Andros handled it, looking for anything she needed to adjust, Stone just stayed behind her. Stone held her, whispering how much she meant to him and how much he loved her, no matter what happened on the mission. Luna didn't turn to Stone, but returned the sentiment, a tear slipping down her cheek as Andros came out of the simulation.

"The weapon is great, Luna. It feels fantastic in my hands," Andros complimented her work.

"I just need to make a few minor adjustments. We'll be a few minutes," Luna replied.

Andros looked at her, trying to hide the pain, then at Stone, who didn't usually show many emotions, but was showing them to Luna. He nodded at them and decided to go find Vanya. Zhane and Vanya were on the bridge.

"V, can we talk for a minute? Zhane, Stone and Luna are going to be a few minutes late. She's putting some final adjustments on the weapon she's been working on for me," Andros said before he led V away, towards the engine room, the last place Zhane would think to spy on him.

"What's going on, Andros?" Vanya asked when they got into the engine room.

As soon as he let the door to the engine room close behind them, Andros turned and kissed Vanya. He shocked both of them by doing it, but seeing how hard it was for Luna and Stone, who had been together for a while, he didn't want to go on one more mission without her knowing how he felt. Vanya got into the kiss, which shocked Andros more, but made the kiss even more amazing. When they finally pulled away from each other, Vanya wouldn't look at him.

"Did I upset you by kissing you, V? I know I'm older than you and your brother's best friend…" Andros started rambling.

"No," she said, putting her finger over his mouth. "Before Pluto died… I wanted to tell you that I kinda felt something other than feelings as a friend for you, Andros. After his death, you were so intent on doing almost everything alone, I didn't think I could talk to you anymore. You were pushing us all away."

"V, no. I wasn't trying to push you all away. I was trying to keep you safe. Pluto was the youngest of us. His death was hard. None of us could get to him to try to save him. I didn't want that to happen to anyone else, especially not you or Zhane. You two mean more to me than anyone else in the universe," Andros explained. "That day you came to my quarters to talk, I was thinking about how I was starting to see you more as a woman instead of Zhane's kid sister. I just didn't want to say anything and risk ruining anything between us or me and Zhane. And I know I kissed you that night in my quarters then we never spoke about it, but I had never kissed anyone before and looking at you, I wanted to kiss you. Now, I can't avoid what I did back then or how I still feel."

"And now? This kiss is more than saying something, Andros," Vanya asked.

"Now, I will deal with Zhane after the mission. I just _needed_ to tell you that you're important to me, V. I needed you to hear the words from me. The thought of anything happening to either of us and not telling you… it's become unbearable," Andros said as he kissed her one more time before leading her back to the bridge, where they joined Zhane, Luna, and Stone, before heading out to Tarmac-3.

Once they dismounted the Galaxy Gliders that Luna had built for each of them on the planet's surface they were right into the shuffle. Andros, Zhane, and Vanya immediately started evacuating as they fought the invaders, protecting every being fiercely. Stone made sure Luna made it to the detonator safely. As soon as they reached the bomb, Luna set to work, not noticing for a few minutes that Stone hadn't left her, she was so focused on diffusing the bomb.

"Stone, please, you need to go!" she exclaimed.

"I can't live without you, Luna!"

"Power down!" Luna ordered the Astro Morpher. "No matter what happens, part of me will always be with you, Stone. I love you. You know that. But you're needed by V. You know that Andros and Zhane team up in battle, she needs you right now. I've got a bomb to diffuse."

"Power down!" Stone ordered his Astro Morpher, so he could kiss Luna. "I love you so much, Luna. Please, don't let this be our last kiss."

"I promise, I will do everything to come back to you, Stone. Just please, I can't focus with you so close to the bomb. You need to get at least a kilometer away."

Stone gave Luna one more kiss and morphed back into the Black Ranger, running into battle to join Andros, Zhane, and Vanya. They were okay, but he understood why Luna sent him away. She couldn't stand the idea of being the one to take his life… intentional or not. Just like he hated himself for siding with Zhane in this strategy, he just knew it was the best strategy to get everyone off-planet safely at the end of the day.

The battle was intense. Every so often, Luna would check to see if everyone was okay as she worked on the bomb. The Red, Black, Pink, and Silver Rangers had the enemies retreating. Stone had some hope that they would make it through this mission safely.

"I think I've got it! I'm making my way back to you guys!" Luna called over her communicator.

"Stone! Go meet her and make sure she gets to us safely," Andros called to him.

Stone nodded and started making his way towards where he had left Luna hours before. He was maybe a quarter of the way there, Luna was almost half a kilometer from the bomb when she just stopped. She looked back towards where she had been working and didn't take another step.

"I'm sorry everyone. Stone, I love you," she said, and then half of the bomb went off.

"NO!" Stone screamed. "LUNA!"

"Stone. Status report…" Andros called to him.

Stone couldn't answer him.

"I'll go check, Andros. You and Zhane have things here pretty much under control," Stone heard Vanya call to their leader.

Not long after the communications, Vanya was holding him, crying. He got up and held her, feeling the tears on his cheeks under his helmet. After that, things were blurry for Stone.

"Andros, she's… Luna…" Vanya called to the team leader.

"What is it, V?" Zhane asked his sister.

"There was an explosion… Luna… I'm pretty sure she's gone," she replied. "I'm going in to get her."

"No! Vanya, stay where you are," Andros called back. "Have Stone do it!"

"He can't. He's in bad shape. He's not responding, Andros. I'm going in, before things get worse," Vanya replied before calling out, "Galaxy Glider! Hang 10!"

"Vanya! No!" Zhane called.

Vanya got onto her Galaxy Glider and crossed the quarter of a kilometer from where she and Stone were to where Luna wasn't moving. She jumped down off her Glider and struggled in the intense heat from the blast zone, but got Luna onto it. She went straight back to the Astro Megaship, placing Luna in the infirmary so she could try to check her out. She ordered D.E.C.A. to teleport Stone back to the ship as she tried to help Luna.

She wasn't sure how long she had been in the infirmary with Luna. She had quickly realized that she couldn't save her so she started cleaning her up. Vanya removed the Blue Astro Morpher from her friend's wrist, and changed her into some of her nicer clothes. Even when she was done, Andros and Zhane weren't back from Tarmac-3. She moved Luna's body into the healing chamber and returned to the bridge.

"D.E.C.A., open communications to Trey of Triforia, please," Vanya said sadly.

"Yes, Vanya… Communication established," D.E.C.A. replied.

"Vanya of KO-35, what can I do for you?" Trey asked.

"Trey… I need to speak to you about our Blue Ranger, Luna," she replied, forcing herself not to cry.

"She's told you she's my cousin, hasn't she?" Trey asked.

"Yes, she did."

"Then she must have been in fear for her life. Is Luna alright?"

"Trey… no, she's not," Vanya replied. "We were called to Tarmac-3 to help defend it against an invasion. As we neared the planet, Luna detected an explosive device strong enough to make a hole in the planet big enough to swallow our ship. As our expert in those areas, she insisted she diffuse the device. I'm not sure what happened from there, she had said she had diffused it, but a few minutes later, she said she was sorry and told Stone she loved him. I went to check on Stone and Luna because they weren't answering the communicators and found him unresponsive and Luna unmoving approximately a quarter kilometer from where Stone and I were, a half kilometer from the original point of the device.

"Not wanting to leave her there any longer, I ignored Andros and Zhane to use my Galaxy Glider and bring her back to the ship. I… I tried to save her, Trey. It was too late. So I cleaned her up, nobody will see her covered in ash and soot. We know where she wants to be buried, but we will need your help."

"Thank you for caring for my cousin Luna so lovingly. You showed that you have a big heart and tremendous courage to do this, Vanya," Trey replied. "Where are your team leaders?"

"They haven't returned from Tarmac-3 yet. That's why I wanted to let you know about Luna. You deserve to know. She was descended from both Triforia and KO-35, she was a hero, and she chooses to be buried on Triforia. Luna specifically requested we not bring her body back to the KO-35 military."

"Thank you, Vanya. I know this can't be easy for you. You are the youngest on the team since the loss of your Yellow Ranger, and now, you are the only female left on the team. My heart goes out to your team, because while Luna was my family, your team was like a second family for all of you… I understand the loss of any member of your team is like the loss of a loved one," he said, before becoming a bit more serious. "However, I shall coordinate with Andros and Zhane. Please, make sure they reach out when they return."

"I will, Trey."

"Take care of yourself, Vanya."

After the communications were closed, the stress of the day hit Vanya.

"D.E.C.A., please alert Andros and Zhane that I am in my quarters when they return," Vanya said as she ran off to her quarters, no longer able to hold back her emotions any longer.

Andros and Zhane finally returned to the Astro Megaship, exhausted after another hard-fought battle, knowing things weren't going to get any better back on the ship.

"D.E.C.A., where are the other Rangers?" Andros asked.

"Stone has been in Luna's quarters since right after I teleported him back to the ship on Vanya's orders. Luna was placed in the healing room after Vanya cleaned and changed her. Vanya has retreated into her quarters. She requested I alert the two of you that she of her location upon your return," D.E.C.A. replied.

"Thank you, D.E.C.A.," Zhane said, turning to Andros. "Stone or V?"

"Stone needs some space. You check on V. I'll contact Trey and see what his orders are. I will notify the KO-35 elders of Luna's loss but tell them her body disintegrated in the blast. I'm not giving them a chance to try to fight her request on what happen to her in death," Andros said.

"Alright."

Andros went to the bridge while Zhane went to his sister. When she saw him, she just ran into his arms, something she hadn't really done in a while. Zhane led her back to her bed, and let her lay down, leaning on his leg the way she did as a kid, while he stroked her hair.

"We'll make it through this, V. You know we will. We'll find a way to help Stone, and then the four of us will make it through this together."

"I cleaned her up, so you and Andros didn't have to."

"We know. D.E.C.A. told us. You didn't have to do that, Sis. But what did you do with her Astro Morpher?"

"I put it in the vault with Pluto's."

"How do you know that code? Only Andros and I are supposed to have that."

"I can't compare to Luna, but I'm decent with tech, remember? I was able to decipher the code."

"Impressive," Andros said from the doorway.

"I'm sorry guys. I know I'm not supposed to be in the vault, but it's where her Astro Morpher belonged."

"We'll let it go for now," Andros said. "We're making our way to Triforia."

"And our elders?" Zhane asked.

"Have no idea that it's because we have a body on board," Andros replied. "They believed me when I told them that there was nothing to return to KO-35."

"And Zordon?" Vanya asked.

"Same orders. Keep fighting. He'll decide when the time is right to replace the fallen Rangers," Andros explained.

"We should go and try to calm Stone down," Zhane said.

"No," Vanya said. "I'll do it. You guys still smell like the fires on Tarmac-3. That's only going to upset him."

Vanya left her quarters before they could argue, finding out that Stone had moved from Luna's quarters to his. She knocked on the door and waited for a response. When none came, she entered anyway.

"Stone?" she asked entering cautiously.

"Our leaders couldn't face me?" he asked angrily.

"It wasn't that. They were both going to come see you. I stopped them, worried they'd upset you… They still smell like fire, Stone. I thought they should at least shower before they tried to see you."

"Vanya… I…"

"I know you love Luna, Stone. And I'm sure you're hurting right now."

"I want to see her, but I can't see her like that."

"She just looks like she's sleeping. I tried to save her when I got back here with her. It's why I didn't come to you when you were brought back. When I realized it wasn't possible, I cleaned her, changed her into some of her nicer clothes, and she's in the healing room, where it's cold. We're on our way to Triforia."

"Wait, you did all of that on your own?"

"Zhane and Andros were still on the battlefield. I had D.E.C.A. teleport you back after I managed to get Luna onto my Galaxy Glider and back here. So, yeah, I did. I wasn't going to ask you and you were the only other person on the ship."

Stone got up and pulled Vanya into a hug.

"Thank you, V," he said as he held her. "Will you bring me to see her, before we reach Triforia? I don't know what's gonna happen once Trey gets his hands on her body."

Vanya saw that Stone struggled saying body.

"Of course I will, Stone," she said as she led him to the healing room.

Luna was covered in a sheet, but she carefully pulled it back so Stone could see his lost love. She went to leave him, but he stopped her.

"You can stay with me… I want you to stay," Stone said.

"I'm not going far, Stone. I figured you might want a few minutes alone. I'll be in the engine room. When you want me, just call for me," Vanya replied and walked out to the engine room, which was just outside the door to the healing room.

Stone looked at Luna, trying to find the words to say goodbye to her. His mind still couldn't process that she wasn't just sleeping. It made his heart hurt.

"I knew from when we met in training that you were something special, Luna. You were so smart and tough. Nothing stopped you from being in the top ranks of everything. When we were sent to Eltar with Pluto, Andros, Zhane, and Vanya, I wasn't surprised that Zordon had picked you to be one of his Power Rangers. I was shocked that he picked me. But you…" he said, starting to choke up. "You were perfect for the job. Caring and tough, smart as hell. You were an amazing Power Ranger, Luna. I just can't believe you're gone. I fell so hard for you and now you're gone. I know you didn't do it on purpose, but it still hurts. We're bringing you to your cousin Trey. Andros is keeping his word about that. But I miss you so much already, Luna. I don't know how I'm going to go on without you. I love you forever, Luna. My heart is yours and we _will_ be reunited one day. Until then, just know that I will never stop thinking about or loving you."

The Rangers reached Triforia and brought Trey on board with some of his people to retrieve Luna. He greeted each Ranger expressing his grief to them for their loss of Luna, as well as his gratitude that they had become a second family to her. Finally, the Rangers led Trey and his people to the healing room where Luna had been kept for the trip. Trey seemed both grief-stricken and relieved at the sight of his cousin.

"Vanya of KO-35, please step forward," Trey requested, and after encouragement from both Andros and Zhane, Vanya did. "I want to express an even deeper gratitude to you, for trying to save Luna's life and for seeing to it that neither I nor any of her loved ones had to see her in the shape I'm sure she was in after the explosion. You have my eternal thanks for being a friend to Luna not only in life, but also in death."

Vanya bowed to the Lord of Triforia, unsure of what else to do. She joined the ranks of the Rangers, all in their Megaship uniforms instead of their Ranger uniforms. When Trey had his people put Luna's body on a stretcher to bring her off the ship, Trey led the procession, with Vanya and Stone right behind him and Andros and Zhane bringing up the rear. When they got into his home, Luna's body was taken away to be prepared for a Triforian funeral.

"You have all seen many battles, and been through so much for such young beings. I insist that you stay in my home until Luna has been buried," Trey told Andros and Zhane.

"We don't want to inconvenience you," Andros said.

"It is not an inconvenience. It is an honor. Your team helped protect Triforia once before, and now, you have returned my cousin. Please, I understand you must be taking this hard, but I insist that you stay here instead of cooped up on your ship while preparations for the funeral are completed."

"Thank you, Trey. Again, the four of us are truly sorry for the loss of your cousin, Luna," Andros said.

A few days after the Rangers reached Triforia, Luna's funeral was held. It wasn't at all like the funerals on KO-35 for the military dead. Trey had announced to his people the significance of the Rangers' presence and how Luna connected into his family. The citizens of Triforia seemed to mourn the loss of Luna along with the Rangers and Trey. Finally, when the actual funeral was held, it was just the few members left of Trey's family, since Luna's mom didn't have any living family, and the Rangers. Vanya found the ceremony a little comforting, the way they spoke of Luna's spirit being reunited on the spirit plane with her parents now that her final mission had been completed.

 _If this was true, dying couldn't really be_ all _bad, could it?_ Vanya thought to herself.

After Luna was buried, Trey insisted the Rangers spend another few nights on Triforia. He wanted to know more about Luna because they hadn't seen much of each other in years. Andros and Zhane agreed, not having the heart to deny him a chance to understand Luna more. So the Rangers each took a turn telling Trey stories about their interactions with Luna. When it was time to go, Trey asked Stone and Vanya to stay behind as Andros and Zhane got the Astro Megaship prepared with the supplies he was giving them. Confused, the Rangers split up, Stone and Vanya staying with Trey.

"Stone, I could tell by your stories how much you truly loved my cousin. It wasn't a physical love, but a deeper, meaningful love. I am truly grateful that she had someone like you in her life to love her unconditionally," Trey started. "This is why I want you to have this heirloom. It has been passed down in the family for generations."

"But I'm not a Triforian," Stone said, not sure what to do.

"No, you're not. However, am I wrong in my assessment of your feelings for Luna?"

"Not even a little bit. I would have given my life to save hers."

"Which is why I feel you should have this heirloom, Stone. It was passed by Luna's father to her to give to her firstborn child. With her loss, I feel it is only fitting that you, being her love, be the one to inherit the heirloom," Trey said, handing Stone a locket that had the crest of Triforia, with a picture of Luna on one side, and who must've been her parents on the other.

"Are these Luna's parents?" Stone asked.

"Yes, that is my uncle and his wife. Luna was their pride."

"Are you sure that I should take this? It has the crest of Triforia on it."

"Stone, Luna has worn this heirloom for half of her life. She was loving, and I could tell that she loved you. It is yours to remember that love," Trey said finally.

"Thank you," Stone barely got out, bowing to Trey.

"Now, to you, Vanya. I have something that Luna asked me to hold onto for you in case of these circumstances," Trey said, handing Vanya a computer drive. "After the fall of your Yellow Ranger, she wanted to make sure your team was not left in trouble in case of her loss. This drive has copies of the data on all of the projects she was working on at the time as well as the projects she planned on working on in the future. Luna felt that you would best be suited to take up this work in addition to your other duties."

Vanya looked at the drive. Luna had so much faith in her that she had left this with instructions to be given to her? Vanya was determined not to let her down.

"I will try to live up to Luna's legacy, Trey," Vanya said, bowing to Trey.

In the aftermath of the funeral, Andros told Zhane how he felt about Vanya. It caused tension and Zhane made it clear he did not want Vanya and Andros alone. Angry at Zhane for the way he was behaving, Vanya and Stone started spending more time together while the team leaders argued over her. Stone was able to show Vanya around Luna's lab so she could start the projects in her downtime. He was also able to sit down and go through the drive with her, letting her know which of the projects were completed, in progress, or not started at all. The projects in progress were all kept in specific places and Stone showed Vanya were to find them. In return, Vanya became Stone's training partner. They quickly became in sync with each other.

One night while she was lying in bed there was a knock on the door to her quarters. She ignored it. Still the knocker entered.

"V?" Andros asked gently. "Are you awake?"

Vanya rolled over, excited to hear Andros' voice, until she saw Zhane with him.

"If the two of you are here to argue, please do it somewhere else," she said to them.

"V, you're my little sister, the only family I have left. Andros is my best friend. You can't tell me that you didn't expect me to have some kind of reaction to finding out that the two of you were kissing behind my back."

"Neither one of us could help that we started feeling something for each other, Zhane! It's not like we did this to spite you," Vanya snapped at her brother in annoyance.

"I know, V. You're right. But this all came out of left field. It's been just you, me, and Andros for so long, that hearing this, I didn't know what was gonna happen. Maybe I was worried what the two of you had would tear us apart."

"The only one doing that is you, Zhane. Because of the way you've been acting towards Andros, I've been avoiding both of you. I'm spending all my time working on projects left by Luna and training with Stone. _You're_ tearing the three of us apart. Is it worth it, Zhane? With everything we've all been through in the last two years, is it worth it to deny Andros and I this time?"

Zhane looked between Andros and Vanya. He didn't know what to think anymore.

"What exactly _is_ going on between the two of you?"

"I think I'm in love with Vanya, Zhane. I tried not to… I didn't want to cause any trouble between us, but I couldn't help it. She's beautiful, smart, caring, a warrior… how could I not fall for her?"

Zhane shook his head, not sure what to make of his best friend's admission. He turned to his sister.

"Vanya?"

"Before Pluto died, I wanted to tell Andros that my feelings were starting to change… that I was feeling something _more_ than I'd ever felt for him before. I didn't get to because we were called to the bridge for the mission to Mirinoi. We kissed that night, but we didn't talk about it until right before the Tarmac-3 mission when Andros kissed me again. My feelings for Andros grow stronger every day, Zhane. I hate that I feel like if I spend time with him I'm betraying you, but I feel like I'm betraying myself by not. So I find ways to keep myself busy, hoping the two of you will work this out, because until now, I had no say in this."

Zhane stayed quiet for a while. He was really considering what Andros and Vanya had said to him. There was only one thing to do.

"I'm not a fan of this… but I'm gonna have to get over it," Zhane started, bringing smiles to Andros and Vanya's faces. "I'm miserable fighting with both of you and obviously the two of you are miserable being away from each other. So all this is really accomplishing is making the three of us miserable. We have better things to do with our time."

Vanya jumped up and hugged her brother, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Zhane pulled Andros in on the hug. It felt almost normal to the three of them again.

"Just know if you hurt V, Andros, I'm gonna kick your ass."

"I would never hurt her."

 **Two Months Later:**

It had been two months since Luna's funeral. After finally working things out with Zhane, Andros and Vanya were officially a couple, though they didn't flaunt it in front of Zhane or Stone. Vanya had upgraded some of their tech and weapons, including Zhane's Silverizer, making it the Super Silverizer with Luna's plans. With the blueprints, she was able to add a blaster mode to the sword mode, making it an even more powerful weapon than it already was.

There had been many more battles since Luna's death… even more than between when she and Pluto had died, but the remaining Rangers were making it through. It was after a battle on Zordina, where Zordon himself had asked the Rangers to go in order to protect the Lost Zords of Zordina from falling into the hands of the United Alliance of Evil, that Andros took Vanya on their first date off the Megaship. They went to see Hailey's Comet, a very normal fist date for new relationships. After a beautiful night, they returned to the ship and to their separate quarters. Even though they were officially together, neither was ready for the relationship to progress past kissing. However, this beautiful night was the calm before the storm. A few days later, Zordon contacted the Rangers again… with another important mission.

"Rangers! You are needed on your home planet of KO-35. Darkonda has released a horde of Barillian bugs on your people. The scientists are trying to create an antidote to their bite, but the people are in danger. Be careful on this mission, Rangers, as a sting from a Barillian bug can turn you into one of them before it kills you. Go now, and may the power protect you."

"D.E.C.A., set a course for KO-35, maximum hyper-rush speed," Andros said.

"Course set for KO-35, maximum hyper-rush speed," D.E.C.A. confirmed.

It seemed to take forever to reach KO-35. When they were in orbit, they grabbed their gear and Morphed, using the Galaxy Gliders to go to the planet's surface. Everything was chaos. The few people that were still outside were running around frantically. There was a small army of Quantrons attacking and then there were the swarms of bugs bigger than a person's face flying around trying to sting everyone.

"Take out as many of those bugs as you can! V, get to the hospital! See where the scientists are with the antidote and see if you can help them with it," Andros called out. "The rest of us will deal with the Quantrons and bugs."

Vanya drew her Astro Blaster and started shooting down every bug she saw as she made her way to the main hospital on KO-35. When she rushed through the doors she could hear the people cry out in fear.

"Power down!" she ordered her Astro Morpher, so the people of her planet knew she wasn't the enemy.

"Vanya?" asked one of the elders, that upon looking, Vanya recognized as Tykwa. "Is that you?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Vanya replied. "I'm here to help. Can somebody please show me to the lab where they're working on the antidote?"

Vanya was taken to the lab where the doctors and other scientists were hard at work.

"What do you want?" One of the scientists asked angrily.

"I'm here to help. I'm…" Vanya started but was cut off.

"A Power Ranger. Why do you think you can help us?" he asked her.

"I've been working on the tech, medical, navigational, all of it, aboard our ship. I took over for Luna who fell in battle. I've been asked to come here to try to help you out by the Red Ranger. You never know. You might be missing a key ingredient or piece of tech that isn't native to KO-35 that I may have aboard our ship. Don't disregard me just because I'm a Power Ranger."

"Fine, come here and take a look at these formulas for the compound," a doctor said to Vanya.

Out on the battlefield, Andros, Zhane, and Stone quickly dispatched of the Quantrons. The bugs were a bigger problem. The three were trying to watch each other's back, to ensure none of them got stung, but there were a lot more bugs than there were Rangers. No matter how hard they tried to keep the Barillian bugs away from them, there were more around.

"We need to split up, try to break up this swarm!" Zhane exclaimed.

Andros hesitated, but agreed. He, Zhane, and Stone ran in different directions, trying to draw the Barillian bugs away from the populated parts of the city, into the woods, where the citizens of KO-35 would be safe. They were trying to prevent anyone who hadn't already been stung from getting stung now.

Back in the hospital, Vanya saw the problem with the formula.

"Right here, this is the issue. This ingredient, it's not something we grow or manufacture here on KO-35. That's why your attempts at curing anyone whose been bitten have failed so far. You're missing an ingredient," Vanya explained.

One of the scientists looked over her shoulder at the ingredient that she said was missing. Going over what was actually added into the mixture that created the antidote, she quickly realized that Vanya was correct.

"She's right. It is missing. It could be why other ingredients aren't synthesizing to make the formula a viable cure," the scientist who checked her work agreed. "But if we don't have the ingredient here, where do we find it? We need this antidote as soon as possible."

"Hercuron. But the other Rangers and I have fought a few battles over there. We've gathered supplies and samples of different plant-life out there. I'll return to the Megaship and ask D.E.C.A. if it is in our inventory. If we have it, I will bring it immediately. If not, I will go to Hercuron using maximum hyper-rush speed there and back to retrieve it. Either way, I _will_ get you that last ingredient," Vanya promised.

Vanya hurried out of the lab and upstairs. As she got into the lobby she Morphed back into the Pink Ranger. Once she got outside of the hospital she called her Galaxy Glider and returned to the Megaship.

"D.E.C.A., I need you to check our inventory, quickly. We need an ingredient for the Barillian bug cure on KO-35. I'm inputting the data into the computer now. If we have it, let me know where it is. In the meantime, show me the other Rangers."

"Yes, Vanya."

The other Rangers appeared on the viewing screen. They were struggling to keep the Barillian bugs off of them and out of the city. It didn't seem like they were having an easy time.

"Vanya, as I continue to scan the inventory logs, I need to inform you that some of those who have turned into Barillian bugs are trying to breach the hospital. If they get in, they can destroy any chance of completing the cure."

"Damnit," Vanya cursed, bringing her wrist closer to her face. "Andros, Zhane, Stone! We have an emergency! I'm on the Megaship to see if we have the last ingredient needed for the cure or if I need to go get it. But we've got some giant Barillian bugs that used to be human trying to break into the hospital! Tykwa is in there! If they get in there, there are a lot of people they can attack and they can destroy the progress on the cure! I'll have to start from scratch up here on the Megaship!"

"We're on it, V!" Andros replied.

"Vanya, there is a large quantity of that specific item in the inventory. In addition, I have checked for the other ingredients necessary for the cure. All of them are present on the Astro Megaship," D.E.C.A. informed Vanya.

"What are you telling me about the other ingredients for, D.E.C.A.?"

"Returning to the hospital on KO-35 is ill-advised. In the current situation, the probability of your success in reaching your destination with the last ingredient for the cure is minimal. The best possibility of success comes from you synthesizing the cure here on the Astro Megaship and returning to KO-35 with it in hand."

"Are you sure this is the most logical course of action, D.E.C.A.?"

"Yes."

"Then let's get to work."

D.E.C.A. helped Vanya by telling her exactly where each ingredient was. As she got it into the lab, D.E.C.A. not only walked her through the steps of making the cure, but even ensured it synthesized correctly and as quickly as possible. She just needed to get it done and get down to the planet's surface with it to help those in need.

Stone knew he was in trouble. One of the human-sized bugs stung him. It was becoming difficult for him to hold his kama. His body, from the sting radiating outward was cold. The rest of him felt hot and he could feel he was sweating. Stone was struggling not to lose his Morph, it was taking every ounce of his energy to hold onto it and keep focused enough to fight.

"Stone, are you okay?" Zhane called to him.

"I'm… I…" Stone was trying to answer him, but it was hard. Finally his willpower was gone and he lost his Morph. "AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"Andros, do you have a visual on Stone?" Zhane asked.

"Yeah, he's down! He's…" Andros started. "Zhane, he's starting to transform! He's been stung!"

"While he's down, get him out of the building, let V know to get him onto the ship! We have enough giant bugs to exterminate down here!" Zhane replied.

Andros did as Zhane said. When he got Stone outside he reached out to V on the communicator.

"V, teleport Stone back to the ship! He's been stung! He needs to be locked up so he doesn't damage the ship or hurt you! And please, Zhane and I are alone here now, please hurry with the cure!"

On the Astro Megaship, Vanya got Andros' communication. The cure was almost done, but Stone was now in danger.

"You heard him, D.E.C.A.! Teleport Stone!" Vanya exclaimed as she grabbed a syringe full of a sedative, before going to meet Stone.

Once Stone appeared on the ship, before he could even get his bearings, Vanya stuck the sedative in his neck. With the sting from the Barillian bug, it made him angry at her, but she started to run towards where she was going to lock him up. One of the cargo holds with no ventilation shafts, and doors he wouldn't be able to break until he made a full transformation, especially once the sedative kicked in. Vanya was hoping to stop that from happening.

She locked him in and, with her heart hurting for her friend, she ran back to the lab to finish the cure. Thanks to the equipment on the Astro Megaship she had been able to produce nearly a thousand doses of the cure in one batch. She quickly packaged them for distribution in the vials that were sent to her from the hospital right after she had teleported Stone to the ship.

"Andros, the cure is ready. I'm sending it down to you to test," she said on the communicator. "There are distributor weapons on the top of the boxes. Load a cartridge of the cure into it and just shoot at those affected. Let me know how it works."

She had D.E.C.A. send the cure down to the planet's surface. Vanya anxiously waited to hear from Andros or Zhane. She was pacing back and forth when Zhane's voice finally came over the communicator.

"You did it, Sis! Between the work done before you got here and the work you did, the cure is working perfectly! We need you down here to help us cure as many people as we can," Zhane said.

"What about Stone?"

"When we heal as many as we can down here you can take a dose to him on the ship," Andros said. "But our priority is to those down here first."

Vanya wanted to argue, but he was right. They vowed to protect others. That was their mission. To protect the universe. Hoping Stone could hold out until they calmed things down on KO-35, Vanya returned to the planet's surface.

Between destroying the last of the Barillian bugs that were flying around the planet and actually curing those who hadn't died from their stings, Vanya, Zhane, and Andros were busy for nearly a day. Finally, they were at a point that Andros and Zhane could handle it on their own, she took a dose of the cure and went back to the ship to find Stone. What she did find wasn't good.

"D.E.C.A., what is Stone's status in the cargo hold?"

"Stone has completed the transformation. At this point, he is anticipating the door being opened so he can escape. Use caution."

"Open the door, let him out. Lock all doors on the ship so you lead him to where I'm going, the vault with the Astro Morphers. Bring the temperature up so it's safe for me to open the vault door."

"Yes, Vanya."

Once the Stone-creature was free, his instincts told him to hunt for someone to hurt. He started running around, not able to go anywhere but in specific directions, which drove him into a frenzy. Finally, he came into a hall with someone he could hurt.

"Oh, Stone. I'm sorry," his target said to him.

He started towards her, but she was quick, and had good reflexes. It was going to take even better reflexes from him to get her, but he would. The chase continued, but she stayed in the hall. She pulled some sort of weapon out and pointed it at him. He used this as his opening. When she used the weapon, he dodged out of the way of the blast and stung her. She cried out in pain and dropped the weapon, running into the room next to the hall. He followed her.

The room was dark. He could hear her labored breathing and sniffling. He knew he could destroy her. Suddenly, he was blasted with a cannon of some sort. It knocked him to the ground.

Vanya left the vault with Pluto's Cosmic Cannon as soon as she knocked Stone to the ground. She knew she wasn't going to have much time and this was the only choice left. There was no way to get another dose of the cure to the ship before he killed her. She closed the vault and locked it behind her. That was when her knees gave out and she started crying.

"D.E.C.A., put the vault into deep freeze to protect the Astro Morphers."

"It will extinguish all life still inside the vault. Do you want me to proceed?'

"Proceed as ordered."

"Freezing the vault," D.E.C.A. said.

"I'm sorry I failed you, Stone. I really tried to save you," Vanya said, crying, as she curled up in a ball, no longer able to think clearly after being stung herself.

Andros and Zhane had just finished taking care of things on KO-35. They carried the last of the cure into the hospital for the doctors and scientists to have in case of an emergency, and then made your way outside.

"Andros, Zhane, are you leaving so soon?" Tykwa asked.

"We're going to be in orbit, Tykwa, but one of ours was stung and we haven't heard from my sister in bit, since we sent her up to the ship with a vial of the cure for him. We need to check on them," Zhane replied.

They said goodbye to Tykwa and left for the Astro Megaship.

"D.E.C.A., where is Vanya?" Zhane asked.

"Vanya has been stung by Stone. She is on the floor outside the Astro Morpher vault."

"Why is she there?" Andros asked, trying not to let the panic set into his voice.

"She is there because that is where she faced the transformed Stone."

"D.E.C.A., where is Stone?" Andros asked, afraid of the answer.

"Stone dodged the cure when Vanya tried to cure him. As a result, she has locked him in the Astro Morpher vault and ordered me to revert the temperature to normal, storage temperature."

"That could kill him!" Zhane exclaimed.

"I gave Vanya this warning. Her order was still to proceed."

"Andros, go get a cure for V. I'll go after her."

Andros nodded at Zhane and left. He wouldn't fail Vanya. He wouldn't fail _Zhane_. They were the only three Rangers left. No matter what it took, Andros would make sure Vanya survived the sting.

Zhane went down to the vault. In the hall outside the vault V was on the floor, fully restraint in solid metal. Looking at the device that now held her so she couldn't hurt anyone he saw that there was a sensor on the lock.

"D.E.C.A., how did Vanya get locked in these?"

"In her last moments of clarity she slid the bindings on herself. They are built with sensors that I can control. Once she had them on, she ordered me to lock them as tight as I could without causing her internal injury. She did not want to risk being a danger to either you or Andros upon your return to the ship."

"Thank you, D.E.C.A."

Zhane got closer to Vanya, but he could see she was beginning the transformation. It wasn't progressed far yet, but there were signs. He wouldn't get close enough for her to reach him.

"Are you still in there, V?"

"Zhane?" his sister asked, sounding confused.

"Yeah, V. I'm here. I'm not leaving you."

Andros ran to the hospital as fast as he could when he reached the planet's surface. He needed to get the cure for Vanya. Both her and Zhane were depending on that. As he reached the hospital doors, Tykwa was there.

"Andros, what's wrong?" the elder asked him.

"I need the cure. It's an emergency. Zhane is on the Astro Megaship alone with Vanya and she was stung by Stone," he explained.

"What about Stone?"

"Vanya had no choice but to kill him, Tykwa. He ducked out of the way of the cure she had and stung her. With her being alone on the ship, she couldn't wait until Zhane or I reached her with more of the cure. One of them would have been dead by the time we got there."

"Come with me, Andros," Tykwa said, leading him into the lab. Addressing the staff in the lab she said, "Andros is the Red Ranger, chosen by the Great Sage Zordon, himself to lead the team of Power Rangers. One of his Rangers helped you with the final piece of the puzzle that completed the cure you are now putting away. Now, you are going to give him some of that cure. At least one of his Rangers, the one who helped you finish it, Vanya, the Pink Ranger, is in need of it. Give him at least half a dozen doses for himself and his team. Now. Time is running out."

Within minutes Andros was handed a medical kit with what he needed. After thanking Tykwa for everything and reassuring her the Megaship wasn't moving out of orbit, he returned to the ship. Once there, he rushed to the Astro Morpher vault. As he did, he loaded the cure into the dispersal device.

Zhane wasn't close to Vanya, but he was okay. Vanya was further along in the transformation from the bite than Andros wanted to see. She didn't look okay, but she was heavily restraint. Not taking the time to find out if Zhane found a way to restrain her, Andros got closer to his girlfriend… and delivered the cure.

At first nothing happened. Both Andros and Zhane stood back, nervous that they were too late, fearing that Vanya would have to meet the same fate as Stone. Neither could stand the idea of having to put her down. Their pleas were answered when, after a few minutes, Vanya spoke.

"D.E.C.A., release the restraints, please," Vanya said, wincing. "I'm okay now, thanks."

"Of course, Vanya."

Andros and Zhane rushed her to hug her and she whimpered in pain. They pulled back and looked at her.

"What's wrong? There aren't supposed to be side effects," Zhane asked, the concerned big brother showing.

"It's not a side effect of the cure or the sting. The restraints… I had D.E.C.A. lock them onto me as tight as she could without causing internal injury to ensure I couldn't get out in case I completed the change before you two returned," she said, lifting her uniform shirt to show the bruise forming on her abdomen. "But you saved me. Thank you."

"Are you okay, V?" Andros asked.

"No. I couldn't save Stone… I tried. He wasn't fully transformed by the time I returned to the ship," she said, fresh tears slipping down her cheeks. "I made sure he followed me here, just in case things went sideways. They did. I kept him from getting too close so he hadn't been able to sting me, but as soon as I tried to administer the cure to him, he ducked out of the way of it and stung me."

"That's how you got stung… I was wondering. Your reflexes have always been impeccable, Sis. I didn't think he would just catch you off-guard," Zhane said.

"So what happened after that?" Andros asked her.

"I had hidden Pluto's weapon in the vault. The lights were off in there. I ran in there after he stung me, hoping he'd follow me. He did. When he was on the opposite side of the vault, I shot him with the Cosmic Cannon and ran out of the vault, closing and locking it behind me. Then… I…" she struggled to finish the sentence. "I… I killed him by having D.E.C.A. return the vault to its normal temperature."

Zhane hugged his sister to him. Both he and Andros knew how close she had grown to Stone since Luna's passing. Ever since they had left Triforia the two of them had become best friends. They were almost as in sync with each other as Andros and Zhane were.

"You had no choice, Vanya," Andros said gently. "You tried to cure him. It didn't work."

Vanya pulled away from Zhane.

"D.E.C.A., raise the vault temperature," she said.

"Raising temperature… It is now safe to enter the vault."

Vanya punched in the code to the safe before she pulled the door open.

"What are you doing?" Zhane asked.

"Getting my best friend's body, retrieving his Astro Morpher, and the heirloom from Triforia he wore. Are you two going to help me or not?" she answered.

She entered the vault to find that in death Stone's body had reverted to human form. He lay on the floor of the vault in his Ranger uniform. Vanya made her way to him and knelt next to him. As gently as she could, she removed his Astro Morpher, which changed him to his Astro Megaship uniform. Having easier access to his neck, she reached over and removed the heirloom locket with the Triforian crest, putting it around her own neck for safekeeping until she could contact Trey to find out what to do with it. Then she stood up, placing Stone's Astro Morpher on the Black Astro Morpher holder that was near the Yellow and Blue Astro Morpher holders that held Pluto and Luna's Morphers.

"Vanya…" Andros said to her, but he sounded miles away from her. "Vanya?"

"Hmm?" She replied, finally able to focus on the sound of his voice and find her way out of her grief.

"We'll take care of Stone's body. Go to your quarters and try to rest. You've been through enough today," Andros said.

She nodded at him and was about to leave when she turned back to them.

"What are we going to do with his body?"

"I may need to return him to KO-35," Andros replied.

"Not yet, please. I need to talk to Trey. This locket was Luna's. He gave it to Stone. I need to know what he wants done with it now that Stone is gone. And I want to know if he thinks Stone and Luna should be buried together on Triforia."

"I can delay maybe a few hours, claiming we couldn't answer communications because we had to get the ship back in order after Stone's transformed self was loose before his demise. But that's it, Vanya. I can't push it beyond that, Vanya. I'll give you that, because if Trey felt that Stone was worthy to be passed an heirloom from his family then maybe he does belong buried with Luna," Andros said.

With that, Vanya went to the bridge to contact Trey of Triforia, hoping she wouldn't have to separate Stone and Luna in death. The Triforian funeral really had an impact on her, it gave her hope that maybe one day… even if it never happened while she lived… she would find peace.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

Vanya threw herself completely into working on projects after Stone's death. She wouldn't talk to Zhane or Andros. Even when they reached Triforia, where Trey agreed Stone belonged with Luna, Vanya spoke to Trey only when necessary or when she returned the heirloom Stone had been wearing. She wasn't handling what she was forced to face, the final goodbye of the first best friend she'd had outside out her brother and Andros.

One day, after the funeral, when they had started going on missions again, Andros realized that the weapons of the three fallen Rangers were missing. He went to talk to Vanya. He found her in the lab finishing a project. On a table near the wall, he saw three other weapons, and they were obviously meant for the Blue, Black, and Yellow Rangers.

"V?" he asked gently, getting her attention.

Vanya turned to him and that was when he noticed the project in his hand was another weapon for the Pink Ranger. Andros didn't think Vanya would use this weapon, it looked like some sort of miniature satellite weapon, especially not while she had her Aquila Arbir. He became concerned.

"V, what are these new weapons for?"

Vanya got up and put the weapon in her hand with the other weapons on the table near the wall. Then she led Andros out of the lab. She stayed quiet for a few minutes.

"Andros, I've locked the Kallisto Kama, Saggita Scythe, and Cosmic Cannon away. I'm making replacement weapons for the day when, ultimately, any of the Rangers who have already fallen need to be replaced. I just don't think that anyone can really live up to the sacrifices that the six of us, as a team, have had to make, the losses we suffered that brought us together as a team, friends, and family.

"I'll be making new Red and Silver Ranger weapons in the next few days, just in case of an emergency. I just think, no matter how many or few of the three of us left are still standing when it comes time to put together another team, we shouldn't have to watch them wielding our fallen friend's, our _fallen brothers' and sisters'_ weapons, Andros. It's hard enough to deal with losing them. When a new team is put together, it will be difficult seeing people other than the original team in the uniforms. That can't be avoided. I _can_ make sure they can't use our weapons."

"How? The weapons are programed to the Astro Morphers," Andros replied.

"Not anymore," Vanya replied sadly. "When I decided to do this, I removed the programming for the weapons from the corresponding Astro Morpher. As I've made the new weapon for any future Ranger their Astro Morpher for the new weapon. D.E.C.A. already has a protocol in place in case I die to remove the programming from my Astro Morpher for my Aquila Arbir and reprogram it with the weapon I just finished. If either you or my brother die after me, she will do the same for your weapons. She will also open the vault where the other weapons are locked. You and Zhane will be able to put the weapons of any of the three of us that dies in, but you will not be able to power down the force field that protects them within the vault to remove any of the weapons from the vault. D.E.C.A. will only open the vault for you upon the death of a Ranger. You will not have the code for it. This way, the weapons can never be stolen either. I'm the only one with the code."

"And where are you going to keep these new weapons?" Andros asked, clearly not okay with discussing the possibility the Vanya was taking precautions in case of her death.

"I will be moving these four into the Astro Morpher vault today."

"Are you really worried about the three of us dying, V?"

"If only Pluto had died, I don't think I would be, Andros," she said looking into her boyfriend's eyes, and he could see all the emotions that she had bottled up since Stone's death. "No, I don't think Pluto was the weakest link on the team. He had his own talents to offer the team, just like we all did. We were all beaten nearly to death that day by Astronema… after we had been fighting Ecliptor for so long already. We were all already so tired and beaten up… it made it even easier for Astronema to come in and pick us apart piece by piece. None of us were at full strength when we faced her. It wasn't a fair fight. Any of us could've been killed that day, she just chose Pluto."

"But you are worried that one or more of the three of us might die? Why?"

"Yes. And it can't be you, Andros. Not just because I love you and I don't know that Zhane wouldn't do something stupid without you, but because you still need to finish your search for Karone. You have to find out what happened to her, no matter what," Vanya said to him. "As for why, Luna was the smartest of all of us. She was the best with tech, she was sure she had diffused the bomb. Yet, somehow, we're expected to believe she just _missed_ something that made only _half of the bomb_ detonate? Stone was killed by a Barrilian bug sting. Even after he was stung, he fought the effects of the sting for as long as he could to continue carrying out his duties as a Ranger. And then… then…"

"You did what _needed_ to be done, Vanya," Andros said, pulling her into his arms to comfort her. "Stone would have understood. In that same situation, it would have been the only option left for _any_ of us. You had been stung and he was still a threat. You were going to change and you were already fighting the effects of the sting. The choice was the hardest choice in the universe, I'm sure, but it was the only one that _could_ be made at that time, Vanya."

"How could you comfort me and be so kind to me after I _murdered one of the Rangers_?" she asked as she started crying into his shoulder, which made Andros hold her closer.

"You didn't murder him. You protected yourself, me, your brother, and everyone on KO-35 from him, because if he had made it off the Megaship he would have restarted the outbreak. I can comfort you and be kind to you because I love you, Vanya. I love you and you are in pain. So yes, I am going to try to help you see what happened to Stone from a different perspective, the one where you made a different choice. If you hadn't chosen to act as you had, Vanya, there was a very strong possibility the Space Rangers would have been completely destroyed that day. As hard as it is for you to see, while we lost Stone because of the sting, the Rangers will go on because you made the impossible call. You, me, and Zhane can continue on, rebuild, and let Dark Specter and Astronema know that we will not let them break us. We will fight to honor our friends who can no longer do it for themselves, who sacrificed themselves for this war."

"We all knew this was a possibility when we agreed to all of this, Andros, but I don't think any of us _actually_ expected to die so young. Are you sure we can do this? Are you sure that you, me, and Zhane can do this together… without the others?"

Andros used his thumb to wipe the tears from Vanya's cheeks before kissing her.

"We've always been strongest together, the three of us. I mean yeah, me and Zhane can do anything together, but the three of us combined have survived so much together. How can you doubt us now?"

Vanya kissed him and went back to the lab. Andros went to find Zhane. He found him on the Simudeck.

"So, did V have an answer about the missing weapons?" Zhane asked.

Andros looked at his best friend and wasn't sure how to explain. He didn't want to worry him about his sister.

"Yeah. She knows where they are. She removed their programming from the corresponding Astro Morphers, Zhane. She doesn't want whoever ends up replacing the others on the team to ever use their weapons. Vanya made them new ones."

"What?"

"She locked Pluto, Luna, and Stone's weapons in a vault. We don't have access, but even if we got in, we can't move the weapons. She's the only one with the code. She's programmed these new weapons she made to the Astro Morphers for anyone who joins the team."

"She's not okay, is she?"

"She's trying, but no," Andros told Zhane honestly. "She can't get over having to kill Stone before he could kill her or anyone else. And it's hitting her hard we're the only three left. She's even made a replacement weapon for herself."

"She thinks we're gonna let her die?" Zhane asked Andros incredulously.

"She's scared any of us are gonna die, Zhane. V's gonna be making replacement weapons for our Morphers in the next few days. It's not just her life she's worried about, and it's not that she doesn't trust _us_. At this point, I don't think she trusts anything off of the Astro Megaship."

"V needs to get out of that lab and off of this ship. She barely talks to either of us at this point, she almost never leaves the lab, and if she does, it's because we have a mission. And that's the only way we can get her off of the Megaship," Zhane said, looking around as if thinking for a minute. "I know I wasn't the most supportive of you dating my sister when I found out…"

"That's one way of putting it," Andros interrupted him with a sarcastic look and a smile.

" _Anyway_ , what I was trying to say was that maybe we can use that to distract V for a while… to get her off of this ship."

"You want me to use the fact that I'm your sister's boyfriend to get her off the ship?"

"Well, why not? Don't the two of you want some time alone? Maybe take a picnic to Hercuron or something like that," Zhane suggested.

"Alright," Andros agreed. "A picnic with V doesn't sound too bad. And time with just me and her wouldn't be a bad thing. I just feel weird that you're using it with an ulterior motive."

"Who cares why you're going? Just get my sister out of that lab before she has a nervous breakdown, please?"

"Alright, I'll do it," Andros said laughing, starting to leave the Simudeck.

"Just remember, watch _how far_ you take things with her. She is my kid sister!" Zhane called after him.

Zhane started a new simulation and went back to working out.

Andros returned to the lab. Vanya was leaving with the four weapons she'd completed.

"Need a hand with those?" he asked her.

"Sure," she said as she handed him the weapons that were obviously meant for the Black and Blue Rangers. "Thanks."

"I was thinking, Vanya. You've been working so hard lately, and we haven't had a lot of time to just relax together…" Andros started.

"I know, Andros. I'm sorry. It's just… everything's been so… _hard_ for me to deal with. I don't know what to do anymore."

"So how do you feel about taking a break with me? Maybe going on a picnic on Hercuron?" Andros asked nervously.

Vanya looked at him. She knew how much he cared about her. She also knew how hard it was for him to ask her to go on a date off the ship. Andros tended to get tongue-tied when he tried to form the words to ask someone out. So the fact that he was trying made her realize how important this trip off the ship was. Even though she wasn't sure she felt safe away from the ship anymore, she knew what she had to do.

"Sure, Andros. That sounds really nice," she said to him, trying to smile and act like she was really okay with what he was trying to do.

The following evening, with the Astro Megaship orbiting the planet, Vanya and Andros went to the planet's surface to have a picnic. It was strange that they were doing something so normal in the middle of a war, but Vanya knew she was starting to fall more deeply in love with Andros. Every day she fell more in love with him, even if she kept herself away from everyone. Andros and Vanya had a nice dinner with candles during their picnic. They watched the sun set on Hercuron and the moon rise. Vanya had to admit, in Andros' arms, the picnic, watching the sunset and moonrise, and his lips on hers, it made her feel better than she had felt since before Stone. Andros always knew what she needed. When the moon was high in the sky of Hercuron, Vanya and Andros returned to the Astro Megaship. She went right to Andros' quarters.

"So, how did it go with V?" Zhane asked.

"It went great. She really relaxed down there. Thanks for keeping control of everything up here," Andros replied.

"You didn't…" Zhane started.

"Geez, Zhane! Do you really think I would do that with your sister on a picnic blanket?" Andros asked incredulously. "I'm going to my quarters. V is waiting for me there. Goodnight, Zhane."

"Wait, you're not really going to…"

" _Goodnight_ , Zhane," Andros said and just walked off the bridge.

Andros walked into his quarters and as soon as he did, V kissed him. Andros let himself lose himself in the kiss. It was the first time since before Stone that V had initiated anything between them. He slid his arms around her waist, feeling like he was in heaven. At that point, nothing else mattered. After what seemed like forever, V broke the kiss.

"What was that for?" Andros asked. "Not that you _need_ a reason to kiss your boyfriend."

V smiled at Andros. He could see, even though she was happier than she had been in a while, the turmoil that had kept her isolated was still beneath the surface.

" _That_ was for being you, Andros. I needed tonight, just you and me, off this ship. Nobody shooting at us, trying to blow us up, or anything else that insane. You gave me a night to forget everything. You showed me the beauty of the universe that is so rare to just see now. We're always so busy going from battle to battle, we barely have time to travel from point A to point B. We definitely don't have time to just enjoy the beauty of the universe that you shared with me tonight. Thank you, Andros."

"Anything for you, Vanya."

"Do you mean that?"

"Of course I do. Why?"

V pulled something out of her pocket. At first Andros didn't recognize it. When she held it out to him, he did. It was the locket with her and Zhane's family crest that each member got when they were ten years old. Inside her locket on one side was a picture of her and Zhane with their parents, when they were still a whole family unit. The other side was left open for her to decide who she wanted in there. Recently Andros found out she had put a picture of the two of them together. He also knew this locket was one of her most treasured possessions, one of the few things that she wouldn't go anywhere without.

"What are you doing, Vanya? I told you I would do everything to protect you. So would Zhane. Why are you giving up? I won't take this from you."

"You don't understand what I'm trying to do, Andros," V said to him. "I'm not giving this to you permanently. Tonight, being with you, the beauty, the peace, the perfection of the night we've had… it's given me _some_ of my hope back. I can't promise you that I'm not scared that the three of us are not going to make it out together, but I have more hope than I did when you came to me in the lab yesterday."

"Than what are you doing with the locket? I know how much that means to you."

"I want you to hold onto it for me, as a sign of my trust in you. When the war is over, I will gladly take it back from you," she explained and Andros finally understood.

Vanya wasn't giving in to her fear and despair. She was trusting in his hope that they would survive the war. Her giving him the locket was her proving that by asking him to keep the one thing that meant more to her than anything safe, just like she meant more to him than anything and he intended to do everything he could to keep her safe. No longer upset, Andros pulled V into his arms, took the locket, put it around his neck, under his red shirt, and then kissed her again. Soon, they finally snuggled in his bed and fell asleep, content for the first time since Stone's death.

Slowly, between missions, Andros and Zhane began getting Vanya to leave the Megaship with them to do things that would make her smile. They couldn't spare her from the horrors of war, but they refused to let it be the only thing her life was about anymore. She had already lost three friends to it in addition to her parents, and who knew who else any of them had lost since they'd left KO-35. Little by little, she started to act like her old self, which made Zhane, especially, relieved. While Andros and he were both worried about her, she was the only family Zhane had left, his baby sister, he _couldn't_ lose her.

One morning when Vanya woke up, she realized Andros wasn't on the ship. Knowing her brother never got up early unless he had to, she went to his quarters. Seeing Zhane was still asleep, she used her telekinesis to flip his mattress to flip him onto the floor while she stood by the door. He looked pissed off as she laughed at him.

"Vanya! What the hell was that for?" he growled at her.

"We're alone on the ship. Where's Andros?"

"Why do you think I would know?" he asked as he got to his feet and used _his_ telekinesis to put his mattress back where it belonged.

"Well, he _is_ your best friend, for one. Then there's the pesky detail that you _are_ his second in command. Of course, if you _really_ don't know where he is, you won't care if I take my Galaxy Glider and go find him, now would you?"

"You can't do that, Vanya," Zhane finally cracked when he realized she was heading towards the Galaxy Gliders.

"So speak. Where is Andros?"

"He went to get something he needed. He asked to do it alone. He said he'd be back on the Megaship no later than this afternoon. So, please, Vanya, just let him do what he needs to do. I'm sure when he's ready to, he'll tell you what this was all about," Zhane replied to his sister.

"If I tried something like this, the two of you would search the universe to find me, even if I asked for the space," she replied.

"So what do you want to do? Training sims on the Simudeck? What?" Zhane asked.

She knew he didn't want her in the lab. So she agreed to the Simudeck. They went and set up a simulation and, after ordering D.E.C.A. to alert them to any suspicious activity approaching the ship, they started it. V knew that, like Andros, when things were bothering Zhane, the routine of training helped him focus his mind. It had been a while since the two of them had trained on their own. It relaxed her to spend the time with Zhane, she hadn't realized how much she missed just spending time with him. If they hadn't been training battle strategies, she would almost be able to forget they weren't just two siblings from KO-35.

Hours later, after Zhane and Vanya had done several training simulations, showered, changed, and played several games around the ship, Andros finally returned. When he did, Zhane had Vanya pinned to the floor squealing as he tickled her. The sound of Vanya's laugh lifted Andros' spirit. It had been too long since she had laughed so freely.

"Let me go, Zhane!" she shouted between labored breaths and laughs.

"Nope. You're mine," Zhane said calmly as he tickled her more.

Andros stayed out of sight of the siblings and just watched them act like the carefree kids they used to be back on KO-35. Sure, Zhane joked around a lot on the ship, but not Vanya. Seeing that Zhane got her to made Andros happy beyond words, especially since Zhane knew what he went off to do. When Zhane finally decided to have mercy on Vanya, letting her up, Andros came into their view.

"Andros. How long have you been here watching?" Zhane asked.

"Long enough," Andros replied, smiling easily.

Vanya turned a shade of pink and ran towards her quarters. Andros was confused. He had seen them act like that before. What was the problem now?

"I don't understand what just happened," Andros said to Zhane.

"She's embarrassed, Andros."

"Why? It's not like I've never seen the two of you like that before."

"You weren't sleeping with her when you saw us like that before."

Andros looked at Zhane incredulously.

"Not that it's your business, but I'm not sleeping with your sister, Zhane. I may be her boyfriend but I don't want to take our relationship to that level when we're literally the first defense for so many planets stuck in the middle of this war. It wouldn't be fair to put that pressure on her and nothing is predictable at this point. What if we did and she got pregnant then something happened to me? I would leave her to raise my child alone? I would leave my child without a father? Those are risks I won't take, Zhane."

"You really love her, don't you? You don't want to take a chance that you start something that will just get complicated in ways you can't control and might hurt her."

"Yes, I do love her, Zhane. I would do anything to protect her."

Andros started to rub the back of his neck and accidentally pulled on the chain of Vanya's locket.

"You're still carrying around the locket with the pictures of you and Karone?" Zhane asked, pulling the locket out and getting angry when he recognized it. "What are you doing with this, Andros? This belongs to Vanya."

"It's not what you think, Zhane. Please, give me a chance to explain."

"You better explain. _Fast_. Or I'm going to her quarters to find out what the hell is going on here."

Andros explained what happened the night of the picnic on Hercuron. He explained that Vanya asked him to hold the locket for safekeeping as a sign that she trusted him and his hope that he and Zhane would do everything they could to get all three of them out of the war okay. Andros reassured Zhane, just like Vanya had reassured him, that her giving him the locket was _not_ a sign that she was giving up all hope, just a sign that for the first time in a while she _had_ hope. He finished explaining that Vanya said she would happily take the locket back from him when the war was over.

"Fine. As long as you're sure that my sister isn't just giving up on us, I'll let this go," Zhane said.

"I'm sure, Zhane."

"Then maybe you should go talk to her."

"Thanks."

Andros made his way to V's quarters. He let himself in, finding her face down on her pillows. Immediately concerned for her, Andros hurried to her side.

"Are you alright, Vanya?" he asked her.

"I'm so embarrassed, Andros. I can't believe you _saw_ me like that!"

"What's so embarrassing about me seeing you playing around with your brother?"

"I must've looked like such a _child_."

"Is that what this is all about? You thought I would stop looking at you as the beautiful woman you've become?"

Vanya nodded at him, finally lifting her head off of the pillows.

"Vanya," Andros started, stroking her face, "I was relieved to hear you laughing so carelessly with Zhane. You're always so serious, focused on the missions. Not that it's a bad thing when we're _on_ a mission, but you don't have to be serious all the time."

"So you don't think any less of me because of what you saw?"

Andros kissed her gently on the lips.

"Of course not. I love you. Seeing you relaxed and playing with your brother isn't going to change that. Besides… it's not like it's something I've never seen before. I've seen you two joke around like that a lot. Boyfriend or just close friend, seeing that doesn't change my opinion of you, Vanya. You are my love."

"I love you too, Andros."

Andros kissed Vanya again.

"You should get ready."

"Ready for what?"

"I'm taking you off the ship tonight. We're going to have another night out."

Vanya got up to get ready. Andros left her to it. He went to find Zhane again.

"Well, are the two of you good?" Zhane asked.

"Yeah. She's getting ready for our date."

"Where is it?"

Andros showed him what he had gone to retrieve.

"Vanya is going to love that, Andros."

"I hope things go right tonight," Andros said.

"Just relax. She already loves you. You just need to be yourself with her. You don't need to impress her."

Andros nodded before going to his quarters. He got himself ready for the night. When he was ready he waited for Vanya on the bridge. She looked beautiful, and it was all natural. She hadn't worn makeup since her parents had died. That was one of the things Andros liked about her. Her beauty was natural, both inside and out. He took her hand and led her to the Galaxy Gliders, both of them getting on his, heading off to their location.

They stopped in the Milky Way Galaxy, near Earth. Vanya was confused.

"What are we doing here, Andros?"

"We are going to sit here, on the Galaxy Glider for," he looked at his watch, "five minutes. Earth is about to experience a lunar eclipse and I wanted to watch it with you."

Lunar eclipses were serious dates among the people of KO-35. Vanya was shocked by his choice of date. She was that serious about him, but was he really that serious about her? She tried not to think about it as the cuddled into one another to wait and watch the eclipse. Watching it happen with Andros made it even more special to Vanya, the sight of it was beautiful, but having Andros holding her while they watched it just made it seem surreal.

When the eclipse ended, Andros helped Vanya back to her feet on the Galaxy Glider so they could head to their second location. As they neared the planet, Vanya recognized it. They had freed it from the control of Rita Repulsa before Luna had died. It was called Sorcery 7 and there were no natives left on the planet, only the slaves they had freed when they liberated the planet from Rita. All the natives had been eaten by her Terror Toad when she had invaded and taken over.

When they landed on Sorcery 7, Vanya noticed there was a picnic already waiting for them, looking out over one of the planet's lakes with an amazing view of the moon. She kissed Andros, everything that night was like a fairy tale.

"Andros, this is amazing. How did you set this up while we were in Earth's orbit?"

"Thank your brother. He helped."

"Zhane helped you do all of this?"

"Yeah. He knew I wanted tonight to be perfect, so he said he'd help."

"And it has been perfect."

"Sit down. Let's have dinner."

They sat on the blanket and ate dinner, having comfortable conversations. Andros knew if he didn't do it soon, he'd back out on it and Zhane would never let him live it down. Vanya looked so happy and beautiful. Finally, he sat up on one knee.

"Vanya, we've been through so much together and it's only made our love grow stronger," Andros started. "Will you do me the honor, when the war is over, of becoming my wife?"

He opened the box he had shown Zhane earlier. Inside was a simple silver band inlaid with pink stones. For a minute, Vanya said nothing. Finally, she seemed to remember how to speak.

"Yes, Andros," she said excitedly, as he put the ring on her finger.

Vanya leaned over and kissed him. She couldn't believe he took the steps to make plans with her for after the war. It made her hope even more that all three of them could get through the war together. Andros wanted to share his life with her. She had forgotten what it felt like to feel this happy.

When they returned to the ship, Zhane was waiting for them. He had a curious look on his face.

"So, how was your date tonight?" he asked.

"She said yes," Andros said, showing Zhane his sister's hand with the new ring.

"So we're actually going to be a family," Zhane said.

"We already _were_ a family, Zhane. Blood, marriage, that didn't matter. Andros has been as much a brother to you as you've been to me," Vanya said.

"Welcome to the family, Andros," Zhane said, hugging his best friend who would become his brother-in-law. "Hurt my sister and I'll have to kill you."

Zhane was smiling as he threatened Andros. When he saw Andros stop smiling and pale a bit, he started laughing at him.

"Relax, Andros. I know you would never intentionally hurt Vanya."

"I can't believe things are looking up for the first time in so long," Vanya said, still so happy she was practically floating.

A few days later, the other shoe dropped, in the form of a transmission from Tykwa from KO-35.

"Rangers! I have a message of utmost importance! You are to abort all other missions to return to KO-35 immediately! Dark Specter's forces have moved in for a full assault on the colony! We can only hold them off for a short time! We need your help in order to vacate the citizens from the planet! There are too many of Dark Specter's forces, we can't defeat them! We have to evacuate to preserve lives! We need you now, Rangers!"

"You heard her, Zhane," Andros said. "It's time to go save our people again. D.E.C.A., set a course for KO-35, maximum hyper rush speed. Zhane, Vanya, it's time to prepare for what will likely be our toughest battle as Power Rangers. Get some rest. We're going to need it before we get home. We'll meet here in five hours to prepare everything else before we land."

Zhane immediately left for his quarters. He didn't need to be told to take a nap twice. Vanya hesitated.

"Andros?" she spoke up, suddenly seeming shy.

"What is it, Vanya?" he asked gently.

"Can I stay with you in your quarters? If things are as serious as Tykwa is implying, I don't want to be far from you now," Vanya replied.

Andros hugged Vanya to him, kissing her head.

"Of course you can stay in my quarters with me," he told her. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Together, Andros and Vanya went to his quarters where the cuddled in his bed until they fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

The five hours were over. Vanya and Andros left his quarters, in full uniform, to meet Zhane on the deck. As soon as Zhane saw his little sister, he could tell she was withdrawing again. It scared him to see her going so far away from him so fast. Just a day ago she was happy, laughing, and making plans for her future. Now, she was back to the girl who looked like she was going to withdraw to the lab as soon as she was no longer needed for a mission or mission briefing.

"So, we've already been through a lot as Rangers," Andros said. "This mission is going to be harder than anything else we've dealt with. This isn't a mission to stop the advance of Dark Specter's forces on a planet. We're letting them have _our home_. This is a mission to help the KO-35 military hold off Dark Specter's forces for as long as we can so as many of the colonists can be evacuated from the planet."

"Do you have a plan oh Fearless Leader?" Zhane asked.

"We're going to have to split up," Andros said. "You and I will work with the military on the front lines, holding off any monster attacks that are trying to get into the city to stop the evacuation. V, you're going to be in the city."

"What good will I be there?" Vanya asked.

"You know the technology in case there is a need of an expert in that area, but the reason I'm sending you in there is to help get the Elders and any other colonists to the evacuation points. If _any_ of the monsters or Dark Specter's minions get through the front lines, everyone who is trying to evacuate is in danger. I want you in the city as a secondary defense to protect them," Andros answered.

"You will report to Commander Kinwon for your specific duties. He will tell you where to go, while Andros and I help the soldiers on the front lines, V. We'll all try to keep contact through our communicators. This is probably going to be our longest battle," Zhane told his sister.

"Zhane's right, Vanya. We don't know if we're going to be on KO-35 for days or weeks, only that we're going to be there until the evacuation is done. Do you have any battle strategies heading in you'd like us to consider?" Andros asked her.

"Are we leaving the ship in orbit or are we landing it on KO-35?"

"Most likely landing it," Andros replied. "Why?"

"Then we might as well make use of the weapons systems on the ship before we disembark to join the fight. The ship has some heavy duty laser canons that could probably take out some of the monsters before we even set foot on the planet," V replied.

"What about the soldiers on the front line? If we use those, won't we kill them?" Zhane asked.

"If we don't, the monsters are likely to kill them," replied V. "But our targeting systems are precise. I can lock onto a target and destroy the target. Any soldiers nearby might get knocked back by the impact of the laser into the monster, but it won't kill them."

"Andros? What do you think of this idea?" Zhane asked his best friend.

"I think it's a good idea. We can take out some of the hostiles before we disembark the ship to join the fight. It increases the odds for us and the KO-35 military. We'll do it," Andros said, turning to V. "That was an excellent idea."

"Oh, just kiss her, already. You're practically married already, anyway," Zhane said, seeing Andros was trying to maintain his position as leader of the team and not as his sister's fiancé.

Andros pulled Vanya into his arms and kissed her. His hands slid into hers, and that's when he realized something was off. When he pulled away from the kiss, he looked at her hand. Her engagement ring wasn't on her finger.

"Vanya… where is your…" Andros started.

"This?" Vanya asked him, pulling a rope necklace from under her uniform which held her engagement ring. "I thought it would be safer tied on this during battle. Less likely to just get lost somehow."

Andros let a breath he didn't realize he was holding out. He pulled his fiancée back into his arms and kissed her again.

"Approaching orbit for KO-35," D.E.C.A. informed them.

Andros and Vanya pulled away from each other. Andros went to the ship's navigation controls. Vanya went to the weapons controls and Zhane went to the targeting systems. They were ready to enter the battle on their home planet with a bang.

Andros took control of the navigation of the ship from D.E.C.A. as they entered the atmosphere of KO-35. The carnage and fighting they saw on their home was worse than anything else they had seen since joining the military, let alone becoming Power Rangers. As they were close enough to lock on the monsters, Zhane started locking the targets as Vanya blew them up. They made an excellent pair with the weapons. Andros made two passes around the front lines trying to destroy as many monsters and enemy aircraft as he could before landing the Astro Megaship to join their people in battle.

When they disembarked the ship, they were in the Power Ranger uniforms. Anyone who didn't know the true identity of the Power Rangers on KO-35, wouldn't know who would be leading them in battle now. As Andros and Zhane went to the front lines, V made her way to Commander Kinwon. They all found the same thing in their different positions, ongoing battles.

"Commander Kinwon, Pink Ranger reporting for duty, Sir!" Vanya said to the elder as she reached him.

"Yes, I was told you would be assisting inside of the city, Vanya," he said to her, surprising her by calling her by her proper name.

"Sir," she said confused as she powered down, recognizing the elder who told her two years prior she was an orphan. "I didn't know you knew who I was, Commander."

"Of course the elders know which of our youth were given the honor of become the Great Sage's Power Rangers," Kinwon replied to her. "Now, Vanya, I assume your brother and Andros are on the front lines?"

"Yes, Sir."

"I want you to start by evacuating the northern quadrant of the city. With the battles you will likely be pulled into throughout that process, I feel it will take you all day, if not into the early morning hours of tomorrow. You may rest _after_ the northern quadrant is cleared of citizens. We have the few soldiers we can spare working on the southern quadrant, which is which is furthest from the battlefields, so you will be doing this alone.

"Understand, Vanya, as this is the quadrant _closest_ to the battlefields, there may be no way to save everyone in the quadrant. We've already lost so many. Just try to get everyone to the evacuation points that you can safely. If they get wounded, you must unfortunately leave them behind so you may save the others," Kinwon informed her.

"But, Sir. You're asking me to leave some of our people to _die_."

"Yes, I am. Those are your orders. Those who can't keep up with the group are to be left behind. We can't risk the lives of many for the few who are unlikely to survive the search for a new home to colonize, Vanya. Are you going to disobey a direct order from one of your elders?" Kinwon asked.

Vanya wanted to tell him yes. She wanted to tell him he was being a jerk, to ask this of her, considering she had already had to kill her best friend for the colony's protection. But she knew she couldn't.

"No. Sir." She replied, biting off each word.

"Then you are dismissed to carry out your mission," Kinwon said, turning from her.

She Morphed back into the Pink Ranger. In that moment, with his back turned, she knew she could easily call on her Aquila Arbir and put an end to him for what he just ordered her to do. She also knew it was cowardly to attack someone from behind and treasonous to attack one of the elders. Therefore, if for no other reason than the possibility of a future with Andros when the war ended, she left him alive to carry out her orders.

Zhane and Andros were fighting back to back keeping anymore monsters or Piranahtrons from getting into the city. With the military at their sides, they were holding the line well. That was one thing they could count on. The military of KO-35 trained their soldiers thoroughly. Even though they were losing soldiers in this battle, they weren't losing as many soldiers as they could have. They wouldn't lose their entire military before the evacuation was over. Zhane and Andros were both focused on keeping each other and the soldiers alive as they handled what was in front of them, all the while, wondering if Vanya was okay. It had been hours, and she hadn't answered any communicator messages.

"V, are you okay?" V heard Andros ask on the communicator.

She was in the middle of a battle with a group of Piranahtrons as she tried to get a group of 50 from the northern quadrant to the evacuation point. When she finally defeated them, she took the group straight where they needed to go. By the time she got them there, only 40 of the 50 original members remained. It was pissing her off that she wasn't allowed to help the sick or injured. But she had her orders and she wasn't allowed to disobey. Instead of focusing on it, she went to get the last group she needed to in the northern quadrant. A group of 20 from a row of single family homes on the furthest end of the quadrant. It was already after midnight. She needed to get them to the evacuation point by 1:30am. If she didn't, they would be stuck at the evacuation point for an indeterminate amount of time.

Vanya made her way across the battlefields again. She got caught up in a few of the fights going on across the city, but still made decent timing to the last group of citizens. When I got there, V was worried. At least one of the families had a baby, two of them had children who looked to be under ten. They would hold up the group getting to the evacuation point. But there was no way in hell she was going to tell those parents their children were too young to be evacuated.

"Those of you with kids under ten or babies, is there any way to keep them from slowing us down?" she asked the families.

"Well," a father with a baby started, "I made this carrier that I can put on my back to hold my daughter. This way my hands and my wife's hands are free."

"Perfect. Get it and put her in it. We need to make sure the kids don't slow us down. Technically, I have orders to leave anyone who slows the group behind, it doesn't matter who or why. I'm only supposed to get those who can keep up as I make my way across the city to the evacuation point there. But I refuse to separate parents and their children just because they might slow us down."

"Those of us with smaller children can also carry them, to keep them from wandering or slowing us down," another parent said.

"And those of us with children closer to ten and older, our children can keep up," yet another parent said. "Thank you for giving all of us a chance to stay together."

"Just know if _anyone_ gets injured on the way to the evacuation point, I am under direct orders to leave them. Injury I can't fight. Age I will. So be careful. I will do my best to get you all there safely. It's dark. That will work in our favor."

"How?" the father with the baby girl asked. "You're wearing bright, reflective pink."

"You're right, Vanya said. "Power down."

Vanya de-Morphed in front of them.

"You barely look older than some of our children," one of the parents said.

"I may not be. I'm seventeen years of age. I joined the military two years ago, and was chosen by the Great Sage, Zordon, not long after as one of his six Power Rangers. I will stay de-Morphed for now, but if we run into a fight, I will have to Morph again to access my weapons," Vanya told them.

With that, Vanya, in her Megaship uniform, began to lead them across the city.

It was the middle of the night. Andros and Zhane were sent back to the Megaship to get rest until first light. The first thing they did upon returning to the ship wasn't go to bed, it was go to the deck. They still hadn't heard from Vanya.

"D.E.C.A., get a visual on my sister," Zhane said to the super-computer.

"Vanya is within the city limits. I cannot get a visual on her from the ground," the super computer told him.

"Can you track her?" Andros asked.

"Yes, I can, Andros," D.E.C.A. replied. "The map on the screen will show you where Vanya is in real time."

Andros and Zhane looked at the map and saw that Vanya was making her way from the northern quadrant of the city. She must have had a group of evacuees with her to take to the evacuation point. Now they were just worried that she hadn't responded to her communicated all day.

Vanya was almost to the evacuation point. She still had all twenty of her group. When they were about thirty yards from the destination, they were attacked by a monster. Vanya Morphed back into the Pink Ranger. She sent the group ahead the last thirty yards as she dealt with the monster.

The monster was tough, but Vanya had been through too much that day. She was angry, she was hurt, she was tired, and in general, just pissed off. Ultimately, she beheaded the monster and before she could get to the evacuation point, she found one of the parents from her group, dead behind where the monster popped out from.

Hoping beyond hope, she rushed to the evacuation point. The shuttle was already being loaded. She ran to the control room.

"How many are on this shuttle?" she asked the person in charge. "How many came in from the last group of evacuees?"

He checked his list.

"Nineteen of the twenty that were listed as part of that sector of the quadrant, Ma'am," he replied to her. "Is something wrong?"

"No. We were thirty yards from here when we were attacked. I sent the group ahead while I dealt with the monster. It was after I defeated it that I found the bodies of one of the twenty. I wanted to know if any of the others had failed to make it here," V explained.

"No, Ma'am. It seems that only the one whose body you found was unable to make it here. All the others are accounted for and on the shuttle, about to be launched off of KO-35," he told her.

"Good. I'm going to report to Commander Kinwon."

She left the evacuation point and made her way to Commader Kinwon. She found him with the other Elders in their meeting area. Vanya de-Morphed before entering the room. After properly greeting them, she debriefed them about the evacuation of the northern quadrant.

"So, minimal loss of life, and the quadrant is fully evacuated?" Kinwon asked.

"Yes, Sir. It is." V answered.

"Good. Tomorrow you will spend the morning evacuating this quadrant. Come mid-afternoon, you will start evacuating some of the elders and their families. After all, we will need leaders wherever we will call home when we leave here," Kinwon said.

"Start with the points in the most danger. Get those citizens out to the evacuation point. Once they are all evacuated, come back here. We will all be waiting with our families and have decided who will leave when, Vanya," Tykwa said. "For now, you should return to the Astro Megaship to take care of your wounds and get some rest. We will see you at first light."

"Yes, Tykwa," V said, saluting the Elders before leaving the room, teleporting to the Megaship.

"Vanya!" Andros cried out as things went blurry on Vanya.

She felt herself being picked up. She recognized the smell and knew Zhane caught her. He always smelled like Cinnamon. Before long everything was dark on Vanya, but she could hear Zhane and Andros.

"What do you think happened?" Andros asked.

"I'm not sure, but she has injuries that show she saw more than one battle today." Zhane replied.

"But that exhaustion… I haven't seen that type of exhaustion in Vanya since right after Stone, Zhane."

"What do you mean?"

"Before she blacked out… the dark circles under her eyes, the weariness in her eyes… they were because she couldn't handle that she had someone's life in her hands and ended it, no matter the reason."

"Do you think she killed any of the evacuees?"

"Maybe not directly… maybe she was under orders not to save some of them."

"Why would the Elders…"

"To weed out the weak before they find a new planet, Zhane. They're going to have limited resources until they find somewhere they can sustain themselves. Taking care of the sick and injured will drain supplies that they can save for stronger people, people who will more likely survive the transition and be able to make the colony stronger."

"We need to get her on her feet again, Andros."

"We will. The meds in her IV will have her better by morning," Andros said as he kissed V on the forehead. "Rest easy, Vanya. You're safe on the ship with your brother and me. We'll be back to check on you in the morning."

"Yeah, Sis," Zhane said, also kissing her head. "Sleep this off. Hopefully things will look better tomorrow."

"I guess we should both get some rest now," Andros said to Zhane. "We don't know how many more days like today we have ahead of us."

"You're right," Zhane conceded. "Night, Man."

The following morning Andros went to the med bay to check on Vanya. She was taking the IV out of her arm when he got there. He rushed in and got her to lay back down as gently as he could.

"I want that out of my arm, Andros."

"In a minute, V, please?" Andros replied. "Just give me a minute to run one last overall scan to make sure you don't need anything else before removing it?"

"Fine," she groaned, giving in.

Andros ran the scan on Vanya's vitals. They were within normal parameters, but he could tell she still wasn't at 100%. She looked weary and bone tired. Still, he knew better than to push her about what was going on in her head. Vanya only opened up when she wanted to.

"Alright, let's get that out of your arm," Andros said as he gently removed the IV from Vanya's arm. "There you go. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, Andros."

"Are you sure, V?"

"Yeah. Yesterday just took a lot out of me. I saw dozens of our people get killed or be left to die in the evacuation process," she said, not looking Andros in the eye.

"Why were they left to die, V?"

"You already know why, Andros. I wasn't awake, but I heard the two of you talking last night. Kinwon's orders are anyone who can't keep up with the groups I'm moving to the evacuation point are to be left behind. I'm not _allowed_ to help them. It's a direct order. He essentially dared me to tell him I would disobey the order… and I wanted to… I wanted to _so badly_."

"What stopped you?"

"We're trying to plan for a life when this war is over. I don't think me committing _treason_ is going to help that," V responded.

Andros kissed her.

"I love you," he told her.

"I love you too, Andros. But I need to eat and get back out there. I have to start evacuating the eastern quadrant closest to where the battles are. This afternoon I'm supposed to start moving the Elders and their families. I'm guessing they evacuated the western quadrant first since that's where the evacuation point is, and if that's the case, I'm hoping the few soldiers that had evacuating the southern quadrant will be evacuating the southeastern quadrant while I'm in the northeastern quadrant making my way to the Elders."

"Are you sure you're okay, Vanya?" Andros asked as he led them to get something to eat.

"I don't like the way things are being handled with the evacuation, Andros. Some of the people they're telling me I can't help… I guarantee some of the Elders fall into those categories, but I also guarantee I won't be able to leave them behind."

"I understand. But for now, we just need to follow our orders," Andros replied.

"Orders about what?" Zhane asked sitting down with his breakfast.

"How the Elders want the evacuation handled," Andros answered. "We were right last night. They're making her leave anyone who can't keep up a certain pace behind, even if it means their death."

"Vanya," Zhane said, worried about his sister. "Are you alright?"

"I have no other choice, do I Zhane? We're Power Rangers. We need to help our people evacuate, no matter what that means… no matter what our personal feelings."

"When we get outta here, the three of us are taking a vacation," Zhane said. "No more missions for a little bit. We need some time to get our heads on straight."

Andros hesitated like he might argue.

"Alright. But not for too long," he gave in.

"Long enough for the two of you to get married at least," Zhane said.

Andros and Zhane laughed easily. Vanya forced herself to laugh as they finished their breakfast. Too soon it was time to go back to the battlefields. Vanya gave her big brother a hug before he left, giving Andros and her a minute to say goodbye alone, just in case.

"It feels so weird to do this," Andros said.

"Do what?" Vanya asked. "We've all said our goodbyes in case one of us doesn't make it back to the Megaship before."

"Yeah, well, I never had to do that with my fiancée before, Vanya. That's why it's weird. We're engaged, we want to get married and have a life together, and here we are, with you in my arms, getting to ready to say goodbye in case one of us dies today," Andros replied.

"Then don't say it as if one of us might die today, Andros," Vanya said, pulling his face to hers, kissing him with more passion than they'd ever kissed before. "We'll just say I love you. Because I do, Andros. I love you more than anything, because my love for you isn't the same as it is for Zhane. I love you on a completely different level and sometimes, it is just your smiling face that keeps me from disappearing into my mind, Andros. So I won't say goodbye to you. I'm just going to say I love you."

Andros kissed Vanya as she did to him.

"Then that's what we'll do," he agreed. "I love you, Vanya. I tried not to, because of the complications it could cause, but I couldn't help it. My love for you has grown every day and I don't want that to ever stop. When things have been at the worst, it has been your love that has kept me going, Vanya. So I won't say goodbye to you either. I will only say I love you with all of my heart."

They kissed one last time, Andros holding her close to him for a few moments longer, before they left the Megaship. Once they did, they had to split up. Andros went to Zhane on the front lines. Vanya went to evacuate the northeastern quadrant of the city, heading to the center of the eastern quadrant and the Elders.

The day was just as hard as it was the day before for Andros and Zhane. There were just as many monsters, and some of them were even fiercer than the ones they had taken down when they had reached KO-35. They were watching soldiers fall faster under the wrath of these stronger monsters.

"Andros, there are just too many of them," Zhane said to his best friend as it became clear that they were being overpowered, even with the military on their side.

"We can't give up, Zhane. There are still people we need to get inside the city for their protection and hopefully for V to get to the evacuation," Andros replied.

"Alright, let's do this," Zhane said, mustering up a second wind, pushing some civilians in the direction of the city, out of the line of fire.

Meanwhile, in the city, Vanya was taking her last group of civilians from the northeastern quadrant to the evacuation point. Halfway across the city she came face-to-face with Ecliptor. Grabbing one of the soldiers from the battle with Ecliptor, she gave him orders to get the group of civilians to the evacuation point. She knew that the soldiers could not face Ecliptor and walk away.

"So, Pink Ranger. You think you can face me?" Ecliptor tried to taunt her. "Didn't your team lose your Yellow Ranger after facing me?"

"D.E.C.A. let my brother know what the situation I am in is," she said to the super-computer, before she spoke to Ecliptor. "We may have lost a Ranger that day, but it wasn't at _your_ hands, now was it, Ecliptor?"

Vanya could tell that he was infuriated, which would give her an advantage… he wouldn't be as focused as he should be. She called on her Aquila Arbir and attacked him. Minutes into the battle, Andros and Zhane teleported next to her and joined the battle with Ecliptor. She took Zhane's Super Silverizer, giving him her Aquila Arbir while she tinkered with the blaster mode of the Silverizer. When she was done with it, she gave it back to her brother.

"Use the blaster mode, Zhane!" she said, as she attacked Ecliptor with the crescent edge of her arbir.

"You're in the blast zone!"

"Don't worry! I'll be fine!" she assured her brother.

Zhane took the shot, and sure enough, Vanya was fine. Ecliptor, however was sparking. Suddenly, he was teleported off the battlefield.

"What was that?" Zhane asked.

"Yeah, Vanya, what did you do?" Andros asked, noticing some of the other minor monsters and minions were down in the immediate area.

"I tampered with the Silverizer, adding an electromagnetic pulse to the blaster mode. When you shot the blaster, it shut Ecliptor down for now," V replied, looking around and noticing the affects her EMP had. "And apparently all electronics in this area. You guys are gonna have to call for the Galaxy Gliders to hurry to the front lines. I need to get back to the Elders to start their evacuations."

Andros and Zhane hugged Vanya before calling the Gliders. Once they were in the air, Vanya began to make her way to the meeting place of the Elders. Upon her appearance, Commander Kinwon was angry.

"You! You disobeyed a direct order! I told you your orders were to evacuate the citizens of the northeastern quadrant! Not to order our soldiers to do it while you fight a monster!" Kinwon yelled at her.

Vanya de-Morphed.

"Commander Kinwon, I am very well aware of my _direct orders_. However, I never would have gotten _any_ of those citizens with me to the evacuation point and your soldiers would have all died had I not had them escort those citizens to the evacuation point instead," she stood her ground and told him without yelling at or disrespecting him.

"And why do you, a soldier of two years, a Power Ranger for less time, feel you are qualified to make that call over me?" he asked, challenging her.

"Field experience, Sir. As a team the Rangers have faced that creature before. He was the one we had been called to deal with the day we lost our Yellow Ranger, Pluto. We had battled him to the point of exhaustion. He is a dangerous and formidable opponent, one of Dark Specter's top men. That was the day we met Astronema, who just came in and told him to leave, and she was the one who killed Pluto after we had all battled Ecliptor until we were exhausted. We still battled her with more than we probably thought we had in us, but she was too much for us, Kinwon. But my point is, it was _Ecliptor_ , that had gotten us to the point of vulnerability. With our advanced weaponry and training, our advanced armor to protect us, we barely walked away from him. Your soldiers, as well-trained as they are, which I will never doubt, are not trained to handle Ecliptor."

"Has he been dealt with?" Tykwa asked, trying to stop Kinwon from fighting with Vanya any further.

"Yes. I called in the Red and Silver Rangers from the front lines to do it. When we were through they went right back to the front lines and I came here. I took the Silver Ranger's weapon, the Super Silverizer, and adjusted it to fire off an EMP when he shot the blaster. It took down Ecliptor and some of the machine- based lesser monsters and minions in the immediate area of that battle."

"Then I think you made the right call, Pink Ranger. You saved lives in the evacuation attempt and you still got Ecliptor off of KO-35. That is commendable," Tykwa praised her. "Now, I think Commander Kinwon and his family, along with Tomas and his family should be evacuated first. Get them all to the evacuation point and return to us, Pink Ranger. We don't have much time before KO-35 will fall."

"Yes, Ma'am, Tykwa," V said to Tykwa. "Let's go. Follow me and do exactly as I say."

Tykwa could see that Kinwon didn't seem thrilled with the turn of events, but by his own orders, Vanya was in charge of the evacuation process. She watched as Vanya led the out of the building and Morphed immediately to hold off a group of Piranahtrons who attack about 100 yards from where they exited the building. The two Elders kept their families between them, with a telekinetic wall of debris shielding them from harm as Vanya handled the fighting. When she defeated her opponents, she let the Elders know the coast was clear and they continued their journey.

Four hours later, Vanya was down to the last Elder, Mathias. Along with his wife and small children, they were the last of the evacuees that needed to be gotten to the western quadrant of the city. Everything seemed like it was going well. At least, until a monster with one normal-looking hand and one large claw-hand appeared in front of them.

On the front lines, Andros was fighting a tough opponent. As much as he landed hard blows on the monster, the monster hit him harder. Zhane was fighting some of the other monsters, holding his own, until he noticed that Andros had been knocked down.

"Andros!" Zhane called out.

Vanya was fighting the claw-handed monster with everything in her. She had weakened it, that much she was sure of. When she knocked it fifteen yards away, she turned to Mathias.

"Keep the wall of debris around you and your family," she said. "It will protect you. Start making your way towards the evacuation point. I need to hold him off."

"We can't leave you here," his wife said.

"This is my job, Ma'am. I need to keep him from getting to you. Go. Please. I will hold him off as long as I can," Vanya said.

"I hope we see each other again, Vanya," Mathias said to her before he started rushing his family towards the evacuation point.

It was basically just the claw-handed monster and Vanya inside the city at this point. The monsters had realized pretty much everyone had been evacuated, so they were focusing their assault on the front lines. When she turned around, the monster was right in front of her. She tried to block it with her arbir, but it knocked her back, making her hit her head. As soon as she got back to her feet, it impaled her on its claw.

At the same moment that Vanya was impaled on the monster's claw inside the city, Zhane jumped on the monster that was about to deal a death blow to Andros, after hitting it with a few deadly blows. Zhane was still on the monster when it exploded. When the flames died down, Andros could see that Zhane moved his fingers a bit, but didn't move again.

As Zhane moved for the last time on the front lines, Vanya took her last breath in the city. Andros felt the loss of both of them, from his mind, from his heart, at the exact same time. He collapsed in grief. He knew he couldn't help Vanya, but Zhane still lived. He picked up his body and brought him back to the Astro Megaship, placing him in a cryogenic tube in the healing chamber. Turning the cryogenic tube on, Andros hoped that one day it would bring Zhane back to him. He then left the chamber to go find Vanya.

Andros roamed the route Vanya would have taken with the Elders from their meeting place to the evacuation point. Along that point, he found her impaled on the claw of a monster, but the monster did not survive killing his fiancée. With the spear-end of her Aquila Arbir, Vanya had impaled the monster through its throat. When he got over to them, he gently got the monster away from Vanya, removing its claw from where it went through her chest. Then he pulled the Aquila Arbir from the monster, which is when the monster turned to debris.

Picking up Vanya, Andros started to cry. He carried her to where Pluto had been buried, the place all of them were to be buried if anything were to be happened, technically, and he dug a grave for her next to Pluto's grave. With every bit of earth he moved for her grave, Andros felt himself withdraw further into himself. Vanya was his light, the one who kept him going in the darkest of times… and now he was putting her in the ground. Zhane was his best friend, Vanya's older brother, basically _his_ brother… and now he was in a cryogenic tube. Andros had truly felt like he had lost everything. Vanya, Zhane, Stone, Pluto, Luna, his parents, Karone… he had lost them all. As he buried Vanya, he vowed to himself that he would _never_ let anyone get as close to him as his team or his parents. Before he left her grave, which was marked with a simple stone and her Ranger color, he took her engagement ring, which he took off of her finger before he buried her, and put it on the chain with her family crest.

Andros returned to the Astro Megaship and contacted Zordon to let him know he was the only member of the team left… Zhane was in a cryogenic sleep and he didn't know if or when he'd wake and Vanya was lost in the evacuation on KO-35, protecting an elder. Zordon gave his condolences and told him he would give him time to grieve before he asked anything of him. The Elders, however, did not wait. Commander Kinwon contacted the Astro Megaship angrily when he heard that the Elder Vanya was supposed to be protecting arrived at the evacuation point unguarded.

"Commander Kinwon," Andros started, "I can explain."

"I appreciate that you may be trying to cover for Vanya, Andros, but I want to hear from her," Kinwon demanded.

"As much as I would like to allow you to speak to my fiancée, Commander, I can't. She died protecting the last Elder that left KO-35. I buried her before I took Zhane, who is in a cryogenic sleep right now, and left the planet. I am the only Ranger left," Andros said, forcing himself to stay composed.

"Andros, are you alright? I know how much Zhane and Vanya both meant to you," Tykwa cut in.

"I will do my duties, Ma'am," was all Andros could say without breaking.

"She was brave to the end. I'm sure Mathias and his family will be sad to hear that she perished to ensure their survival," Tykwa replied.

"Andros, I'm sorry for your losses," Commander Kinwon finally seemed sympathetic. "Vanya… she had already disobeyed orders once today. I thought she had done it again. I'm sorry. I see now, she did what she had to in order to protect Mathias and his family. She is a hero. We will make sure everyone remembers her that way."

Andros nodded and the connection was ended. He turned and went to his quarters, where his bed still smelled like Vanya. Curling up on the side she typically slept in lately, he breathed in her scent and finally let all of his emotions flow from him, not caring if he couldn't stop for a while.


End file.
